Advising and limiting medical treatment during phone consultation: a prospective multicentre study in HEMS settings.

BACKGROUND: We investigated paramedic-initiated consultation calls and advice given via telephone by Helicopter Emergency Medical Service (HEMS) physicians focusing on limitations of medical treatment (LOMT). METHODS: A prospective multicentre study was conducted on four physician-staffed HEMS bases in Finland during a 6-month period. RESULTS: Of all 6115 (mean 8.4/base/day) paramedic-initiated consultation calls, 478 (7.8%) consultation calls involving LOMTs were included: 268 (4.4%) cases with a pre-existing LOMT, 165 (2.7%) cases where the HEMS physician issued a new LOMT and 45 (0.7%) cases where the patient already had an LOMT and the physician further issued another LOMT. The most common new limitation was a do-not-attempt cardiopulmonary resuscitation (DNACPR) order (n = 122/210, 58%) and/or 'not eligible for intensive care' (n = 96/210, 46%). In 49 (23%) calls involving a new LOMT, termination of an initiated resuscitation attempt was the only newly issued LOMT. The most frequent reasons for issuing an LOMT during consultations were futility of the overall situation (71%), poor baseline functional status (56%), multiple/severe comorbidities (56%) and old age (49%). In the majority of cases (65%) in which the HEMS physician issued a new LOMT for a patient without any pre-existing LOMT, the physician felt that the patient should have already had an LOMT. The patient was in a health care facility or a nursing home in half (49%) of the calls that involved issuing a new LOMT. Access to medical records was reported in 29% of the calls in which a new LOMT was issued by an HEMS physician. CONCLUSION: Consultation calls with HEMS physicians involving patients with LOMT decisions were common. HEMS physicians considered end-of-life questions on the phone and issued a new LOMT in 3.4% of consultations calls. These decisions mainly concerned termination of resuscitation, DNACPR, intubation and initiation of intensive care.

Immediate Paramedic Tactical Response Unit in a Civilian Emergency Medical Service: The First Year Experience.

PURPOSE: An immediate paramedic tactical response unit was implemented into a civilian emergency medical services (EMS) system. This was compared with the preexisting traditional tactical EMS support (TEMS). The primary aim of the study was to evaluate the effect on tasking frequencies. The secondary aims of the study were to assess mission timings and the effect on patient encounters. METHODS: Paramedics with tactical emergency medical training provided immediate response on a 24/7 basis. They responded to support police in high-risk TEMS scenarios and incidents in a Tactical Emergency Casualty Care (TECC) role. Tasking frequencies, timings, and clinical input were compared between the first year of immediate response and 3 preceding years of TEMS. RESULTS: The number of TEMS dispatches increased from an average of 5 to 54 annually. The median time from dispatch to scene arrival decreased from a median of 54 minutes (interquartile range [IQR] 39-65) to 17 minutes (IQR 11-26) (p < .0001). The overall mission duration decreased from a median of 3 hr 13 min (IQR 2 h 29 min to 4 h 40 min) to 1 h 12 min (IQR 34 min-1 h 18 min) (p < .0001). The number of treated patients increased from one minor injury annually to 13 severe and six minor injuries annually. CONCLUSIONS: Implementing immediate tactical paramedic response significantly decreases response time and mission duration and increases the number of activations and resultant number of treated patients.

Prehospital administration of blood products: experiences from a Finnish physician-staffed helicopter emergency medical service.

BACKGROUND: Massive infusions of crystalloids into bleeding hypotensive patients can worsen the outcome. Military experience suggests avoiding crystalloids using early damage control resuscitation with blood components in out of hospital setting. Civilian emergency medical services have since followed this idea. We describe our red blood cell protocol in helicopter emergency medical services (HEMS) and initial experience with prehospital blood products from the first 3 years after implementation. METHODS: We performed an observational study of patients attended by the HEMS unit between 2015 and 2018 to whom packed red blood cells, freeze-dried plasma, or both were transfused. The Student's two-sided T-test was used to compare vitals in prehospital phase with those at the hospital's emergency department. A p-value < 0.05 was considered significant. RESULTS: Altogether, 62 patients received prehospital transfusions. Of those, 48 (77%) were trauma patients and most (n = 39, 81%) suffered blunt trauma. The transfusion began at a median of 33 (IQR 21-47) minutes before hospital arrival. Median systolic blood pressure showed an increase from 90 mmHg (IQR 75-111 mmHg) to 107 mmHg (IQR 80-124 mmHg; P < 0.026) during the prehospital phase. Four units of red blood cells were handled incorrectly when unused red blood cells were returned and required disposal during a three-year period. There were no reported adverse effects from prehospital transfusions. CONCLUSION: We treated two patients per month with prehospital blood products. A prehospital physician-staffed HEMS unit carrying blood products is a feasible and safe method to start transfusion roughly 30 min before arrival to the hospital. TRIAL REGISTRATION: The study was retrospectively registered by the Tampere University Hospital's Medical Director (R19603) 5.11.2019.

Limiting treatment in pre-hospital care: A prospective, observational multicentre study.

BACKGROUND: Data are scarce on the withdrawal of life-sustaining therapies and limitation of care orders (LCOs) during physician-staffed Helicopter Emergency Medical Service (HEMS) missions. We investigated LCOs and the quality of information available when physicians made treatment decisions in pre-hospital care. METHODS: A prospective, nationwide, multicentre study including all Finnish physician-staffed HEMS bases during a 6-month study period. All HEMS missions where a patient had pre-existing LCOs and/or a new LCO were included. RESULTS: There were 335 missions with LCOs, which represented 5.7% of all HEMS missions (n = 5895). There were 181 missions with pre-existing LCOs, and a total of 170 new LCOs were issued. Usually, the pre-existing LCO was a do not attempt cardiopulmonary resuscitation order only (n = 133, 74%). The most frequent new LCO was 'termination of cardiopulmonary resuscitation' only (n = 61, 36%), while 'no intensive care' combined with some other LCO was almost as common (n = 54, 32%). When issuing a new LCO for patients who did not have any preceding LCOs (n = 153), in every other (49%) case the physicians thought that the patient should have already had an LCO. When the physician made treatment decisions, patients' background information from on-scene paramedics was available in 260 (78%) of the LCO missions, while patients' medical records were available in 67 (20%) of the missions. CONCLUSION: Making LCOs or treating patients with pre-existing LCOs is an integral part of HEMS physicians' work, with every twentieth mission involving LCO patients. The new LCOs mostly concerned withholding or withdrawal of cardiopulmonary resuscitation and intensive care.

Spontaneous trigger words associated with confirmed out-of-hospital cardiac arrest: a descriptive pilot study of emergency calls.

BACKGROUND: According to the International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation (ILCOR), the trigger words used by callers that are associated with cardiac arrest constitute a scientific knowledge gap. This study was designed to find hypothetical trigger words in emergency calls in order to improve the specificity of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest recognition. METHODS: In this descriptive pilot study conducted in a Finnish hospital district, linguistic contents of 80 emergency calls of dispatcher-suspected or EMS-encountered out-of-hospital cardiac arrests between January 1, 2017 and May 31, 2017 were analysed. Spontaneous trigger words used by callers were transcribed and grouped into 36 categories. The association between the spontaneous trigger words and confirmed true cardiac arrests was tested with logistic regression. RESULTS: Of the suspected cardiac arrests, 51 (64%) were confirmed as true cardiac arrests when ambulance personnel met the patient. A total of 291 spontaneous trigger words were analysed. 'Is not breathing' (n = 9 [18%] in the true cardiac arrest group vs n = 1 [3%] in the non-cardiac arrest group, odds ratio [OR] 6.00, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.72-50.0), 'the patient is blue' (n = 9 [18%] vs n = 1 [3%], OR 6.00, 95% CI 0.72-50.0), 'collapsed or fallen down' (n = 12 [24%] vs n = 2 [7%], OR 4.15, 95% CI 0.86-20.1) and 'is wheezing' (n = 17 [33%] vs n = 5 [17%], OR 2.40, 95% CI 0.78-7.40) were frequently used to describe true cardiac arrest. 'Is snoring' was associated with a false suspicion of cardiac arrest (n = 1 [2%] vs n = 6 [21%], OR 0.08, 95% CI 0.009-0.67). CONCLUSIONS: In our pilot study, no trigger word was associated with confirmed cardiac arrest. 'Is wheezing' was a frequently used spontaneous trigger word among later confirmed cardiac arrest victims.

Limitation of treatment in prehospital care - the experiences of helicopter emergency medical service physicians in a nationwide multicentre survey.

BACKGROUND: Making ethically sound treatment limitations in prehospital care is a complex topic. Helicopter Emergency Medical Service (HEMS) physicians were surveyed on their experiences with limitations of care orders in the prehospital setting, including situations where they are dispatched to healthcare facilities or nursing homes. METHODS: A nationwide multicentre study was conducted among all HEMS physicians in Finland in 2017 using a questionnaire with closed five-point Likert-scale questions and open questions. The Ethics Committee of the Tampere University Hospital approved the study protocol (R15048). RESULTS: Fifty-nine (88%) physicians responded. Their median age was 43 (IQR 38-47) and median medical working experience was 15 (IQR 10-20) years. All respondents made limitation of care orders and 39% made them often. Three fourths (75%) of the physicians were often dispatched to healthcare facilities and nursing homes and the majority (93%) regularly met patients who should have already had a valid limitation of care order. Every other physician (49%) had sometimes decided not to implement a medically justifiable limitation of care order because they wanted to avoid conflicts with the patient and/or the next of kin and/or other healthcare staff. Limitation of care order practices varied between the respondents, but neither age nor working experience explained these differences in answers. Most physicians (85%) stated that limitations of care orders are part of their work and 81% did not find them especially burdensome. The most challenging patient groups for treatment limitations were the under-aged patients, the severely disabled patients and the patients in healthcare facilities or residing in nursing homes. CONCLUSION: Making limitation of care orders is an important but often invisible part of a HEMS physician's work. HEMS physicians expressed that patients in long-term care were often without limitations of care orders in situations where an order would have been ethically in accordance with the patient's best interests.

Professional firefighter and trained volunteer first-responding units in emergency medical service.

BACKGROUND: Although widely dispatched to out-of-hospital cardiac arrests, the performance of prehospital first-responding units in other medical emergencies is unknown. METHODS: In this retrospective, descriptive study, the general performance of 44 first-responding units in Pirkanmaa County, Finland, were examined. A subgroup analysis compared the first-responding units made up of professional firefighters and trained volunteers. RESULTS: First-responding units were dispatched to patients during 1622 missions between 1 January 2013 and 31 December 2013. The median time to reach the scene was 9 minutes in any mission. Overall, first responders evaluated 1015 patients and provided treatment or assisted ambulance personnel in 793 (78%) cases. The most common treatment modalities were assistance, such as carrying (22%) and the administration of supplemental oxygen (19%). There were 83 resuscitation attempts during the time period. In 42 of these, first-responding units initiated basic life support a median of 4 minutes prior to the arrival of ambulance personnel. Return of spontaneous circulation was achieved in 20% of cases. The subgroup analysis showed that trained volunteers administered oxygen more liberally than professional firefighters in stroke and chest pain mission (stroke: professional 9/236 cases [4%] vs layperson 26/181 cases [14%], P < 0.001; chest pain: professional 16/78 cases [21%] vs layperson 77/159 cases [48%], P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: First-responding units provided initial treatment or assistance to ambulance personnel in approximately half of the missions. Implementation of professional- and layperson-staffed first-responding units in emergency medical service system seems to be feasible.

End-tidal carbon dioxide output in manual cardiopulmonary resuscitation versus active compression-decompression device during prehospital quality controlled resuscitation: a case series study.

BACKGROUND: Active compression-decompression (ACD) devices have enhanced end-tidal carbon dioxide (ETCO2) output in experimental cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) studies. However, the results in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) patients have shown inconsistent outcomes, and earlier studies lacked quality control of CPR attempts. We compared manual CPR with ACD-CPR by measuring ETCO2 output using an audiovisual feedback defibrillator to ensure continuous high quality resuscitation attempts. METHODS: 10 witnessed OHCAs were resuscitated, rotating a 2 min cycle with manual CPR and a 2 min cycle of ACD-CPR. Patients were intubated and the ventilation rate was held constant during CPR. CPR quality parameters and ETCO2 values were collected continuously with the defibrillator. Differences in ETCO2 output between manual CPR and ACD-CPR were analysed using a linear mixed model where ETCO2 output produced by a summary of the 2 min cycles was included as the dependent variable, the patient as a random factor and method as a fixed effect. These comparisons were made within each OHCA case to minimise confounding factors between the cases. RESULTS: Mean length of the CPR episodes was 37 (SD 8) min. Mean compression depth was 76 (SD 1.3) mm versus 71 (SD1.0) mm, and mean compression rate was 100 per min (SD 6.7) versus 105 per min (SD 4.9) between ACD-CPR and manual CPR, respectively. For ETCO2 output, the interaction between the method and the patient was significant (P<0.001). ETCO2 output was higher with manual CPR in 6 of the 10 cases. CONCLUSIONS: This study suggests that quality controlled ACD-CPR is not superior to quality controlled manual CPR when ETCO2 is used as a quantitative measure of CPR effectiveness. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: NCT00951704; Results.

A survey of front-line paramedics examining the professional relationship between paramedics and physician medical oversight.

OBJECTIVE: Paramedicine is often dependent on physician medical directors and their associated programs for direction and oversight. A positive relationship between paramedics and their oversight physicians promotes safety and quality care while a strained or ineffective one may threaten these goals. The objective of this study was to explore and understand the professional relationship between paramedics and physician medical oversight as viewed by front-line paramedics. METHODS: All active front-line paramedics from four municipal paramedic services involving three medical oversight groups in Ontario were invited to complete an online survey. RESULTS: Five hundred and four paramedics were invited to participate in the study, with 242 completing the survey (48% response rate); 66% male, 76% primary care paramedics with an average of 13 (SD=9) years of experience. Paramedics had neutral or positive perceptions regarding their autonomy, opportunities to interact with their medical director, and medical director understanding of the prehospital setting. Paramedics perceived medical directives as rigid and ambiguous. A significant amount of respondents reported a perception of having provided suboptimal patient care due to fear of legal or disciplinary consequences. Issues of a lack of support for critical thinking and a lack of trust between paramedics and medical oversight groups were often raised. CONCLUSIONS: Paramedic perceptions of physician medical oversight were mixed. Concerning areas identified were perceptions of ambiguous written directives and concerns related to the level of trust and support for critical thinking. These perceptions may have implications for the system of care and should be explored further.

Physician-staffed helicopter emergency medical service has a beneficial impact on the incidence of prehospital hypoxia and secured airways on patients with severe traumatic brain injury.

BACKGROUND: After traumatic brain injury (TBI), hypotension, hypoxia and hypercapnia have been shown to result in secondary brain injury that can lead to increased mortality and disability. Effective prehospital assessment and treatment by emergency medical service (EMS) is considered essential for favourable outcome. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of a physician-staffed helicopter emergency medical service (HEMS) in the treatment of TBI patients. METHODS: This was a retrospective cohort study. Prehospital data from two periods were collected: before (EMS group) and after (HEMS group) the implementation of a physician-staffed HEMS. Unconscious prehospital patients due to severe TBI were included in the study. Unconsciousness was defined as a Glasgow coma scale (GCS) score ≤ 8 and was documented either on-scene, during transportation or by an on-call neurosurgeon on hospital admission. Modified Glasgow Outcome Score (GOS) was used for assessment of six-month neurological outcome and good neurological outcome was defined as GOS 4-5. RESULTS: Data from 181 patients in the EMS group and 85 patients in the HEMS group were available for neurological outcome analyses. The baseline characteristics and the first recorded vital signs of the two cohorts were similar. Good neurological outcome was more frequent in the HEMS group; 42% of the HEMS managed patients and 28% (p = 0.022) of the EMS managed patients had a good neurological recovery. The airway was more frequently secured in the HEMS group (p < 0.001). On arrival at the emergency department, the patients in the HEMS group were less often hypoxic (p = 0.024). In univariate analysis HEMS period, lower age and secured airway were associated with good neurological outcome. CONCLUSION: The introduction of a physician-staffed HEMS unit resulted in decreased incidence of prehospital hypoxia and increased the number of secured airways. This may have contributed to the observed improved neurological outcome during the HEMS period. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov IDNCT02659046. Registered January 15th, 2016.

Alcohol use in the prehospital setting: a diagnostic challenge in patients treated by a physician staffed mobile intensive care unit.

BACKGROUND: Alcohol use among emergency patients has been studied earlier, but the data regarding alcohol use especially among critically ill and injured patients treated in the prehospital setting is scarce. The aim of this study was to evaluate the incidence of alcohol use and the characteristics of cases attended by a physician staffed mobile intensive care unit (MICU). FINDINGS: During a 2 month period, exhaled air alcohol concentration-measured as a part of routine patient examination in all adolescent and adult patients treated by the MICU-was recorded. The MICU encountered 258 patients, of which 82 could be tested for alcohol use. Of the tested patients 43 % gave a positive breath test result. Proportion of male patients providing a positive result in the breath test did not differ significantly those of women. The primary reason for not to test the patient was a decreased level of consciousness in one-fifth of the initial 258 patients. CONCLUSIONS: A significant proportion (47 %) of the encountered patients could not be tested due to their critical condition. Alcohol use was observed in 43 % of those capable of providing a breath test sample. The rate of positive tests seemed to be higher than those reported from emergency departments. Novel diagnostic methods to detect alcohol consumption in non-cooperative patients are warranted.

Pre-hospital severe traumatic brain injury - comparison of outcome in paramedic versus physician staffed emergency medical services.

BACKGROUND: Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is one of the leading causes of death and permanent disability. Emergency Medical Services (EMS) personnel are often the first healthcare providers attending patients with TBI. The level of available care varies, which may have an impact on the patient's outcome. The aim of this study was to evaluate mortality and neurological outcome of TBI patients in two regions with differently structured EMS systems. METHODS: A 6-year period (2005 - 2010) observational data on pre-hospital TBI management in paramedic-staffed EMS and physician-staffed EMS systems were retrospectively analysed. Inclusion criteria for the study were severe isolated TBI presenting with unconsciousness defined as Glasgow coma scale (GCS) score ≤ 8 occurring either on-scene, during transportation or verified by an on-call neurosurgeon at admission to the hospital. For assessment of one-year neurological outcome, a modified Glasgow Outcome Score (GOS) was used. RESULTS: During the 6-year study period a total of 458 patients met the inclusion criteria. One-year mortality was higher in the paramedic-staffed EMS group: 57 % vs. 42 %. Also good neurological outcome was less common in patients treated in the paramedic-staffed EMS group. DISCUSSION: We found no significant difference between the study groups when considering the secondary brain injury associated vital signs on-scene. Also on arrival to ED, the proportion of hypotensive patients was similar in both groups. However, hypoxia was common in the patients treated by the paramedic-staffed EMS on arrival to the ED, while in the physician-staffed EMS almost none of the patients were hypoxic. Pre-hospital intubation by EMS physicians probably explains this finding. CONCLUSION: The results suggest to an outcome benefit from physician-staffed EMS treating TBI patients. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov ID NCT01454648.

Post resuscitation care of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest patients in the Nordic countries: a questionnaire study.

BACKGROUND: Aim of this study was to compare post resuscitation care of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) patients in Nordic (Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden) intensive care units (ICUs). METHODS: An online questionnaire was sent to Nordic ICUs in 2012 and was complemented by an additional one in 2014. RESULTS: The first questionnaire was sent to 188 and the second one to 184 ICUs. Response rates were 51 % and 46 %. In 2012, 37 % of the ICUs treated all patients resuscitated from OHCA with targeted temperature management (TTM) at 33 °C. All OHCA patients admitted to the ICU were treated with TTM at 33 °C more often in Norway (69 %) compared to Finland (20 %) and Sweden (25 %), p 0.02 and 0.014. In 2014, 63 % of the ICUs still use TTM at 33 °C, but 33 % use TTM at 36 °C. Early coronary angiography (CAG) and possible percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) was routinely provided for all survivors of OHCA in 39 % of the hospitals in 2012 and in 28 % of the hospitals in 2014. Routine CAG for all actively treated victims of OHCA was performed more frequently in Sweden (51 %) and in Norway (54 %) compared to Finland (13 %), p 0.014 and 0.042. CONCLUSIONS: Since 2012, TTM at 36 °C has been implemented in some ICUs, but TTM at 33 °C is used in majority of the ICUs. TTM at 33 or 36 °C and primary CAG are not routinely provided for all OHCA survivors and the criteria for these and ICU admission are variable. Best practices as a uniform approach to the optimal care of the resuscitated patient should be sought in the Nordic Countries.

Airway management by physician-staffed Helicopter Emergency Medical Services - a prospective, multicentre, observational study of 2,327 patients.

BACKGROUND: Despite numerous studies on prehospital airway management, results are difficult to compare due to inconsistent or heterogeneous data. The objective of this study was to assess advanced airway management from international physician-staffed helicopter emergency medical services. METHODS: We collected airway data from 21 helicopter emergency medical services in Australia, England, Finland, Hungary, Norway and Switzerland over a 12-month period. A uniform Utstein-style airway template was used for collecting data. RESULTS: The participating services attended 14,703 patients on primary missions during the study period, and 2,327 (16 %) required advanced prehospital airway interventions. Of these, tracheal intubation was attempted in 92 % of the cases. The rest were managed with supraglottic airway devices (5 %), bag-valve-mask ventilation (2 %) or continuous positive airway pressure (0.2 %). Intubation failure rates were 14.5 % (first-attempt) and 1.2 % (overall). Cardiac arrest patients showed significantly higher first-attempt intubation failure rates (odds ratio: 2.0; 95 % CI: 1.5-2.6; p < 0.001) compared to non-cardiac arrest patients. Complications were recorded in 13 %, with recognised oesophageal intubation being the most frequent (25 % of all patients with complications). For non-cardiac arrest patients, important risk predictors for first-attempt failure were patient age (a non-linear association) and administration of sedatives (reduced failure risk). The patient's sex, provider's intubation experience, trauma type (patient category), indication for airway intervention and use of neuromuscular blocking agents were not risk factors for first-attempt intubation failure. CONCLUSIONS: Advanced airway management in physician-staffed prehospital services was performed frequently, with high intubation success rates and low complication rates overall. However, cardiac arrest patients showed significantly higher first-attempt failure rates compared to non-cardiac arrest patients. All failed intubations were handled successfully with a rescue device or surgical airway. STUDY REGISTRATION: www.clinicaltrials.gov NCT01502111 . Registered 22 December 2011.

Real-time audiovisual feedback system in a physician-staffed helicopter emergency medical service in Finland: the quality results and barriers to implementation.

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the quality of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) in a physician staffed helicopter emergency medical service (HEMS) using a monitor-defibrillator with a quality analysis feature. As a post hoc analysis, the potential barriers to implementation were surveyed. METHODS: The quality of CPR performed by the HEMS from November 2008 to April 2010 was analysed. To evaluate the implementation rate of quality analysis, the HEMS database was screened for all cardiac arrest missions during the study period. As a consequence of the observed low implementation rate, a survey was sent to physicians working in the HEMS to evaluate the possible reasons for not utilizing the automated quality analysis feature. RESULTS: During the study period, the quality analysis was used for 52 out of 187 patients (28%). In these cases the mean compression depth was < 40 mm in 46% and < 50 mm in 96% of the 1-min analysis intervals, but otherwise CPR quality corresponded with the 2005 resuscitation guidelines. In particular, the no-flow fraction was remarkably low 0.10 (0.07, 0.16). The most common reasons for not using quality-controlled CPR were that the device itself was not taken to the scene, or not applied to the patient, because another EMS unit was already treating the patient with another defibrillator. CONCLUSIONS: When quality-controlled CPR technology was used, the indicators of good quality CPR as described in the 2005 resuscitation guidelines were mostly achieved albeit with sufficient compression depth. The use of the well-described technology in improving patient care was low. Wider implementation of the automated quality control and feedback feature in defibrillators could further improve the quality of CPR on the field. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT00951704).

Pulseless electrical activity and successful out-of-hospital resuscitation - long-term survival and quality of life: an observational cohort study.

BACKGROUND: The aim of the study was to evaluate the long-term outcome of patients successfully resuscitated from pre-hospital cardiac arrest with initial pulseless electrical activity (PEA), because the long-term outcome of these patients is unknown. Survival, neurological status one year after cardiac arrest and self-perceived quality of life after five years were assessed. METHODS: This retrospective study included adult patients resuscitated from PEA between August 2001 and March 2003 in three urban areas in southern Finland. A validated questionnaire was sent to patients while neurological status according to the Cerebral Performance Category (CPC) -classification was assessed based on medical database notes recorded during follow-up evaluations. RESULTS: Out of 99 included patients in whom resuscitation was attempted, 41 (41%) were successfully resuscitated and admitted to hospital. Ten (10%) patients were discharged from hospital. Seven were alive after one year and six after five years following cardiac arrest. Five of the seven patients alive one year after resuscitation presented with the same functional level as prior to cardiac arrest. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with initial PEA have been considered to have poor prognosis, but in our material, half of those who survived to hospital discharge were still alive after 5 years. Their self-assessed quality of life seems to be good with only mild to moderate impairments in activities of daily life.

Evaluation of the effects of low temperature on performance of standard non-electric medical equipment at -21.5°C (-6.7°F) - a descriptive study on a real life challenge in the prehospital setting.

AIM OF THE STUDY: To our knowledge, there are no previous reports on the performance of medical equipment in cold conditions. The aim of this study was to evaluate the performance of several plastic, single-use medical equipment exposed to cold outdoor temperature. METHODS: Medical equipment such as endotracheal tubes, suction catheters and intravenous lines were exposed to outdoor temperature of -21.5°C (-6.7°F) for 15 min. After 15 min the equipment underwent a manual stress test resembling normal prehospital use. RESULTS: After 15 min in -21.5°C (-6.7°F) during the stress test several equipment exhibited significant changes in properties as compared to room temperature. Mainly, loss of flexibility and connectivity was observed. Examples of these were fractures of endotracheal tubes and suction catheters, and permanent airway adapter loosening from a respirator breathing circuit. CONCLUSION: Plastic medical equipment has poor tolerance of cold conditions. Loss of equipment performance and properties could result in relevant harm to the patient. Retaining the equipment, e.g. in a closed backpack slows the rate of temperature decrease.

Conduct of emergency research in patients unable to give consent--experiences and perceptions of patients, their consent providing next of kin, and treating physicians following a prehospital resuscitation trial.

OBJECTIVE: According to a directive of the European Parliament, informed consent is required to conduct a clinical trial also in emergencies when the patient is unable to provide consent. In these cases surrogate consent can be obtained from the patient's next of kin. There are no reports describing how patients and their next of kin perceive this policy. The perceptions of patients and their spouses involved in an emergency trial conducted under surrogate consent were surveyed. METHODS: A survey was sent to survivors of prehospital cardiac arrest, to consent providers regardless of patient outcome, and to physicians who had recruited the patients. RESULTS: 11 (92%) patients, 17 (68%) consent providers, and all physicians returned the survey. All held a positive attitude towards emergency research and were willing to participate without own consent in a trial approved by an institutional review board (IRB). Opinions among responding groups were similar albeit a significant difference regarding the perceived capability of the consent provider to decide upon patient's enrolment. Spouses felt able to provide consent, but physicians were sceptical of this. Patients and their spouses would have appreciated additional information regarding the index trial after the acute phase. CONCLUSIONS: Emergency research was perceived positively by cardiac arrest victims and their spouses previously involved in a resuscitation trial. Possible own participation in an emergency trial without personal consent was considered acceptable. Patients and their spouses would prefer additional research information after enrolment.

Quality controlled manual chest compressions and cerebral oxygenation during in-hospital cardiac arrest.

AIM: The quality of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is associated with the rate of return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC) during human cardiac arrest. Current advances in defibrillator technology enable measurement of CPR quality during resuscitation, but it is not known whether this is directly reflected in cerebral oxygenation. In this descriptive study we aimed to evaluate whether the quality of feedback-monitored CPR during in-hospital cardiac arrest is reflected in near infrared frontal cerebral spectroscopy (NIRS). METHODS: Nine patients suffering an in-hospital cardiac arrest in a university hospital were included. All patients underwent quality-controlled CPR performed by a dedicated medical emergency team using a Philips HeartStart MRx defibrillator (Philips, Eindhoven, Netherlands) with a CPR quality (Q-CPR, Laerdal Medical, Stavanger, Norway) analysis feature. Simultaneously, bilateral frontal cerebral oximetry was measured using INVOS 5100c (Somanetics, Troy, MI, USA) NIRS. RESULTS: During quality controlled resuscitation, regional cerebral oxygenation (rSO(2)) as measured with NIRS was low but it improved during CPR (p=0.043) and 8 min after ROSC (p=0.022). After the onset of NIRS recording, there were four episodes exceeding 30s, during which the quality of CPR was substandard. When CPR technique was corrected and maintained for 2 min, a minor non-significant increase in rSO(2) was observed in two cases. CONCLUSIONS: High quality CPR was not significantly reflected in cerebral oxygenation as quantified using NIRS. Even after ROSC and subsequent significant increase in cerebral oxygenation, rSO(2) readings were below previously suggested threshold of cerebral ischaemia. Improving CPR technique after an episode of low quality CPR did not significantly increase rSO(2).