Resuscitation
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The highest achievable survival rate following out-of-hospital cardiac arrest is unknown. Data from airports serving international destinations (international airports) provide the opportunity to evaluate the success of pre-hospital resuscitation in a relatively controlled but real-life environment. ⋯ In international airports, 32% of patients survived an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, substantially more than in the general population. Our analysis suggested similarity between airports within countries, but differences between countries. Systematic data collection and reporting are essential to ensure international airports continually maximise activities to increase survival.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Time to awakening after cardiac arrest and the association with target temperature management.
Target temperature management (TTM) at 32-36 °C is recommended in unconscious survivors of cardiac arrest. This study reports awakening in the TTM-trial. Our predefined hypotheses were that time until awakening correlates with long-term neurological outcome and is not affected by level of TTM. ⋯ Late awakening is common and often has a good neurological outcome. Time to awakening was longer in TTM33 than in TTM36, this difference could not be attributed to differences in sedative drugs administered during the first 48 h.
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Understanding the prognosis of elderly out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) patients is vital to informing resuscitation and advanced care planning decisions. However, short-term outcomes such as survival to hospital discharge do not account for post-arrest quality of life. We describe the 12-month functional recovery and health-related quality of life (HR-QOL) of elderly OHCA survivors, including those arresting in aged care facilities. ⋯ Most elderly OHCA survivors resided independently with good functionality 12 months post-arrest. However, increasing age was associated with less favourable outcomes. New strategies are needed with regard to resuscitation in aged care facilities.