Resuscitation
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Efficacy of Defibrillator pads placement during ventricular arrhythmias, a before and after analysis.
European resuscitation guidelines describe several acceptable placements of defibrillator pads during resuscitation of cardiac arrest. However, no clinical trial has compared defibrillation efficacy between any of the different pad placements. Houston Fire Department emergency medical system (EMS) used anterior-posterior (AP) defibrillator pad placement before becoming a study site in the circulation improving resuscitation care trial (CIRC). During CIRC, Houston Fire EMS used sternal-apical (SA) pad placement. ⋯ No difference was observed in defibrillation efficacy between AP and SA pad placement in this study. A randomized clinical trial may be indicated.
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Temporal changes in cerebral regional oxygen saturation (crSO2) are useful for predicting return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC) in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) patients. However, little is known regarding the usefulness of peripheral regional oxygen saturation (prSO2) associated with OHCA patient outcomes. This study evaluated the association between temporal changes in prSO2 and ROSC in patients with OHCA. ⋯ We demonstrated for the first time that prSO2 is associated with ROSC in OHCA patients and showed that temporal changes in prSO2 could predict ROSC earlier than those in crSO2. Our findings could provide time to prepare early interventions after ROSC and assist in determining the TOR for OHCA patients in Japan. Further studies are needed to validate these findings.
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The end-tidal carbon dioxide (ETCO2) is frequently measured in cardiac arrest (CA) patients, for management and for predicting survival. Our goal was to study the PaCO2 and ETCO2 in hypothermic cardiac arrest patients. ⋯ Hypothermic CA is associated with a decrease of the ETCO2 and pH-stat PaCO2 compared with non-hypothermic CA. ETCO2 should not be used in hypothermic CA for predicting outcome.
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Fire and police first responders are often the first to arrive in medical emergencies and provide basic life support services until specialized personnel arrive. This study aims to evaluate rates of fire or police first responder-initiated cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and automated external defibrillator (AED) use, as well as their associated impact on out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) outcomes. ⋯ Fire or police first responders may be an underutilized, potentially powerful mechanism for improving OHCA survival. Future studies should investigate barriers and opportunities for increasing first responder interventions by these groups in OHCA.