Resuscitation
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During cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), advanced life support (ALS) providers have been shown to deliver inadequate CPR with long intervals without chest compressions. Several changes made to the 2005 CPR Guidelines were intended to reduce unnecessary interruptions. We have evaluated if quality of CPR performed by the Oslo Emergency Medical System (EMS) improved after implementation of the modified 2005 CPR Guidelines, and if any such improvement would result in increased survival. ⋯ Quality of CPR improved after implementation of the modified 2005 Guidelines with only a weak trend towards improved survival to hospital discharge.
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Comparative Study
Comparison of mechanical characteristics of the human and porcine chest during cardiopulmonary resuscitation.
Most studies investigating cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) interventions or functionality of mechanical CPR devices have been performed using porcine models. The purpose of this study was to identify differences between mechanical characteristics of the human and porcine chest during CPR. ⋯ In conclusion, human and porcine chest behave relatively similarly during CPR with respect to chest stiffness, but differences in chest viscosity at medium and deep chest compression depth should at least be kept in mind when extrapolating porcine results to humans.
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To evaluate the use of a structured training programme in emergency care in Pakistan through the completion of logbooks documenting actual resuscitation attempts. ⋯ Resuscitation logbooks can be used to assess which skills are used in emergency care. This analysis provides some evidence that the skills taught during the ESS-EMCH programme are used by the trained health workers. Individually held and completed logbooks should continue to act as a feedback and audit mechanism to measure outcomes, in conjunction with other methods of evaluating the impact of the training component of this programme.
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Recent data demonstrated potent neuroprotective effects of growth hormones such as granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) after focal cerebral ischaemia. In order to assess possible effects of intracerebroventricular application of G-CSF on cerebral recovery after cardiac arrest (CA) in rats, neurological testing and histological analyses were performed. ⋯ Despite promising experimental data concerning focal cerebral ischaemia, in this model of 6 min of normothermic CA no beneficial effects of G-CSF application could be demonstrated by behavioural testing and histological analyses of the hippocampal CA-1 sector.
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The objective of this study was to test acceptance of, and interest in, a newly developed prototype of virtual reality enhanced mannequin (VREM) on a sample of congress attendees who volunteered to participate in the evaluation session and to respond to a specifically designed questionnaire. ⋯ The prototype of the virtual reality enhanced mannequin was well-liked, without interfence by interaction devices, and deserves full technological development and validation in emergency medical training.