Academic emergency medicine : official journal of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine
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Hypothermia of 32 degrees C-34 degrees C induced after resuscitation from cardiac arrest improves neurologic recovery, but the optimal depth of cooling is unknown. Using a rat model, the authors tested the hypothesis that cooling to 35 degrees C between hours 1 and 24 after resuscitation would improve neurologic outcome as much as cooling to 33 degrees C. ⋯ These data illustrate that hypothermia of 35 degrees C or 33 degrees C over the first day of recovery improves neurologic scores and neuronal survival after cardiac arrest in rats. The benefit of induced hypothermia of 35 degrees C appears to be similar to the benefit of 33 degrees C.
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Multicenter studies are becoming more common, and variability in local institutional review board (IRB) assessments can be problematic. ⋯ There was substantial variation in IRB assessment of a standard protocol in this study. The burden of the application process contributed to some investigators not participating, but the majority of investigators remain enthusiastic about multicenter research. A national IRB may streamline the review process and facilitate multicenter clinical research.
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Medical simulation is a rapidly expanding area within medical education. In 2005, the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine Simulation Task Force was created to ensure that the Society and its members had adequate access to information and resources regarding this new and important topic. One of the objectives of the task force was to create a research agenda for the use of simulation in emergency medical education. ⋯ These include opportunities to study reflective experiential learning, behavioral and team training, procedural simulation, computer screen-based simulation, the use of simulation for evaluation and testing, and special topics in emergency medicine. The challenges of research in the field of simulation are discussed, including the impact of simulation on patient safety. Outcomes-based research and multicenter efforts will serve to advance simulation techniques and encourage their adoption.