Tendencias actuales en la enseñanza de la reanimación cardiopulmonar básica / Current trends in the teaching of basic cardiopulmonary resuscitation / Current trends in the teaching of basic cardiopulmonary resuscitation

Introducción: La enseñanza de la reanimación cardiopulmonar se basa en el estudio de conceptos, teorías y prácticas que son evaluados con el objetivo de medir el nivel de retención de los individuos. Objetivo: Caracterizar el impacto de las tendencias actuales en la enseñanza de la reanimación cardiopulmonar básica. Métodos: Se realizó una revisión bibliográfica de artículos científicos pertenecientes a las bases de datos Medline, PubMed, SciELO Regional y SciELO Cuba. Se utilizaron descriptores en español e inglés y se revisaron 29 citas. Resultados: Las tendencias actuales implican la aplicación de las nuevas tecnologías, la autopreparación y el poco desarrollo de entornos presenciales. Se consideran las escuelas como lugares clave para las nuevas formas de enseñanza. Los simuladores permiten la formación bajo situaciones clínicas reales. El autoaprendizaje garantiza la consolidación de las habilidades prácticas trasmitidas por el instructor y asimiladas por el estudiante. Conclusiones: La reanimación cardiopulmonar garantiza una mejor calidad de vida de la población en general. Con el avance tecnológico se ha abierto una nueva etapa en la formación de habilidades, donde ha primado la autonomía; aunque existen notables desventajas. Entonces se necesita un asesoramiento con instructor, que ofrezca los conocimientos teóricos y prácticos básicos compaginados con un nivel de autonomía del aprendizaje. Este proceso debe seguirse y controlarse. A la vez que la formación no se detiene ahí, la formación sistemática en cualquier lugar permite la reafirmación de lo aprendido. De este modo, los avances tecnológicos desempeñarán su mejor beneficio(AU)

Introduction: The teaching of cardiopulmonary resuscitation is based on the study of concepts, theories and practices evaluated with the aim of measuring the retention level of individuals. Objective: To characterize the impact of current trends in the teaching of cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Methods: A bibliographic review of scientific articles from Medline, PubMed, SciELO Regional and SciELO Cuba databases was carried out. Descriptors in Spanish and English were used, as well as 29 citations were reviewed. Results: Current trends involve the application of new technologies, self-training and little development of face-to-face settings. Schools are considered as key places for new forms of teaching. Simulators allow training under real clinical situations. Self-learning guarantees the consolidation of practical skills transmitted by the instructor and assimilated by the student. Conclusions: Cardiopulmonary resuscitation guarantees better quality of life for the general population. Technological progress has opened a new stage in the training of skills, in which autonomy has prevailed; however, there are significant disadvantages. Therefore, there is a need for instructor-led counseling, offering basic theoretical and practical knowledge combined with a level of learning autonomy. This process must be monitored and controlled. While training does not stop at such point, systematic training at any location allows reaffirmation of what has been learned. In this way, technological advances will permit to take the best advantage(AU)

Survival, expenditure and disposition in patients following out-of-hospital cardiac arrest: 1995-2013.

AIMS: To investigate trends in survival to hospital discharge, in-hospital expenditures, and post-acute-care disposition following out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) in the United States. METHODS: We performed this nationwide serial cross-sectional study using data from the National Inpatient Sample on all patients (age >18years) hospitalized with OHCA between January 1, 1995, and December 31, 2013. Our main outcome measure was survival to hospital discharge. We fitted multivariable regression models with survival, in-hospital expenditures, and post-acute-care disposition as our dependent variables. RESULTS: Of 247,684 patients included in this study, 58.8% were men; mean age was 67 years. Overall trend of survival to discharge was unchanged (Ptrend=0.56) but a non-significant linear trend increase (49.9% [95% CI, 39.8%-60.0%] in 1995 to 54.0% [95% CI 46.3%-61.8%] in 2013) was noted. Survival improved for patients with VF arrest rhythm but not for those with non-VF arrest rhythm. Increasing age, female gender, non-Caucasian race, high comorbidity burden, non-private primary insurance, non-VF-arrest rhythm and weekend arrest were all negatively associated with neurologically-intact survival. The cost of hospitalization increased from $18,287 ($683) in 2001 to $21,092 ($514) in 2013 at an average annual rate of $261 (Ptrend<0.001). No change in post-acute discharge disposition was observed except for transfer to a short-term hospital (Ptrend<0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Overall survival to discharge following out-of-hospital cardiac arrest remained static between 1995 and 2013. Renewed national efforts are needed to warrant better knowledge translation and wider implementation of the best available science in order to improve outcomes.

Advances in the hospital management of patients following an out of hospital cardiac arrest.

The outcome for patients after an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) has been poor over many decades and single interventions have mostly resulted in disappointing results. More recently, some regions have observed better outcomes after redesigning their cardiac arrest pathways. Optimised resuscitation and prehospital care is absolutely key, but in-hospital care appears to be at least as important. OHCA treatment requires a multidisciplinary approach, comparable to trauma care; the development of cardiac arrest pathways and cardiac arrest centres may dramatically improve patient care and outcomes. Besides emergency medicine physicians, intensivists and neurologists, cardiologists are playing an increasingly crucial role in the post-resuscitation management, especially by optimising cardiac output and undertaking urgent coronary angiography/intervention.

[Assessment of the state and future of basic neonatal resuscitation equipment, in first-line health facilities in Senegal after 3years]. / Évaluation de l'état et du devenir du matériel de base destiné à la prise en charge du nouveau-né à la naissance dans les structures sanitaires périphériques au Sénégal, après un recul de trois ans.

BACKGROUND: Neonatal mortality is a major public health problem. The main causes are infections, prematurity and asphyxia at birth. In view of reducing this high mortality, primary healthcare facilities were equipped with basic equipment for the care of newborns and their key workers were trained in essential newborn care. Three years after this implementation, the present study assesses the state and conditions of use of this basic equipment intended for taking care of newborns at birth. METHOD: This assessment was conducted from 16 March to 3 April 2009. It was based on observations and interviews on a sample of healthcare facilities. RESULTS: Healthcare facilities were generally equipped with ventilator bags and masks (87%) (60/69). In more than half of the healthcare centers (20/38), they were not used often because the workers were renewed and not educated in their use. They were practically all in good condition. Eighty-five percent (59/69) of healthcare facilities had at least one aspirator, generally adapted to newborns (negative pressure, 100 mmHg). The maintenance of the material was globally satisfactory because the aspirator bottles were most often clean. As for the aspirator tubes, they were always available but a few cases of supply rupture were observed in some healthcare centers. The warming table was available in only 52% (36/69) of healthcare facilities. Fifteen tables did not comply with initial specifications. CONCLUSION: This assessment highlights that the basic equipment intended for newborn care was generally available, functional and maintained well after 3 years. This strategy could be scaled up in order to contribute to reducing the newborn mortality.

Reviving the conversation around CPR/DNR.

This paper examines the historical rise of both cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and the do-not-resuscitate (DNR) order and the wisdom of their continuing status in U.S. hospital practice and policy. The practice of universal presumed consent to CPR and the resulting DNR policy are the products of a particular time and were responses to particular problems. In order to keep the excesses of technology in check, the DNR policies emerged as a response to the in-hospital universal presumed consent to CPR. We live with this historical concretion, which seems to perpetuate a false culture that the patient's wishes must be followed. The authors are critical of the current U.S. climate, where CPR and DNR are viewed as two among a panoply of patient choices, and point to UK practice as an alternative. They conclude that physicians in the United States should radically rethink approaches to CPR and DNR.

Epidemiologic study of in-hospital cardiopulmonary resuscitation in the elderly.

BACKGROUND: It is unknown whether the rate of survival after in-hospital cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is improving and which characteristics of patients and hospitals predict survival. METHODS: We examined fee-for-service Medicare data from 1992 through 2005 to identify beneficiaries 65 years of age or older who underwent CPR in U.S. hospitals. We examined temporal trends in the incidence of CPR and the rate of survival after CPR, as well as patient- and hospital-level predictors of survival to discharge. RESULTS: We identified 433,985 patients who underwent in-hospital CPR; 18.3% of these patients (95% confidence interval [CI], 18.2 to 18.5) survived to discharge. The rate of survival did not change substantially during the period from 1992 through 2005. The overall incidence of CPR was 2.73 events per 1000 admissions; the incidence was higher among black and other nonwhite patients. The proportion of patients undergoing in-hospital CPR before death increased over time and was higher for nonwhite patients. The survival rate was lower among patients who were men, were older, had more coexisting illnesses, or were admitted from a skilled-nursing facility. The adjusted odds of survival for black patients were 23.6% lower than those for similar white patients (95% CI, 21.2 to 25.9). The association between race and survival was partially explained by hospital effects: black patients were more likely to undergo CPR in hospitals that have lower rates of post-CPR survival. Among patients surviving in-hospital CPR, the proportion of patients discharged home rather than to a health care facility decreased over time. CONCLUSIONS: Survival after in-hospital CPR did not improve from 1992 through 2005. The proportion of in-hospital deaths preceded by CPR increased, whereas the proportion of survivors discharged home after undergoing CPR decreased. Black race was associated with higher rates of CPR but lower rates of survival after CPR.

Cardiopulmonary resuscitation: how far have we come?

In the 43 years since it was first described, cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) has grown from an obscure medical theory to a basic first aid skill taught to adults and is now the near-universal technique used in CPR instruction. This article provides insight into the history of CPR. We explore the phenomenon of sudden cardiac arrest, the historical roots of CPR, current practice data and recommendations, and the society's role in the development of this life-saving technique. We conclude with a review of CPR's economic impact on the healthcare system and the ethical and policy issues surrounding CPR.

Concordance of field and emergency department assessment in the prehospital management of patients with dyspnea.

OBJECTIVE: Dyspnea is a common complaint of patients treated by emergency medical services (EMS). Few studies have examined the ability of paramedics to distinguish between etiologies of dyspnea. The authors evaluated the degree of agreement related to cardiac versus noncardiac sources of dyspnea between field and emergency department (ED) assessment of patients transported at the advanced life support level. METHODS: This was a retrospective, cohort study of consecutive patients aged > or =35 years transported by paramedics with dyspnea. The authors compared the concordance between the EMS and ED diagnoses. They also investigated whether patients whose assessments were discordant had worse outcomes. RESULTS: Paramedics correctly assessed the cause of dyspnea in 172 of 222 (77%) patients (kappa=0.60; 95% confidence interval [CI]=0.51, 0.69). Among single-source (i.e., cardiac or noncardiac) dyspnea patients, prehospital providers correctly assessed 70 of 84 (83%) noncardiac causes and 98 of 114 (86%) cardiac causes (kappa=0.69; 95% CI=0.59, 0.79). When the ED diagnosis included both cardiac and noncardiac etiologies, paramedics treated seven of 24 (29%) patients as noncardiac, 13 of 24 (54%) as cardiac, and four of 24 (17%) as combined-source dyspnea. The authors did not observe any statistically significant differences in in-hospital mortality, intubation frequency, or hospital length of stay in patients whose prehospital dyspnea diagnosis was discordant. CONCLUSION: The authors conclude that in this EMS system, field assessment of dyspnea by paramedics is in agreement with that arrived at in the ED in a high proportion of patients with dyspnea from a single source. However, field assessment of dyspnea from multiple etiologies is less concordant.

Public access defibrillation in Helsinki--costs and potential benefits from a community-based pilot study.

In cardiac arrest the interval between the collapse and defibrillation may be shortened by teaching lay people to use defibrillators. We conducted a 3-year prospective, community-based study on public access defibrillation (PAD) in an urban emergency medical services system. All public sites with a cardiac arrest incidence of at least one per year were equipped with automated external defibrillators. Twenty cardiac arrest patients were enrolled, seven in PAD and 13 in control group. Defibrillation was accomplished significantly earlier (P=0.01) in the PAD group. The direct costs were 110,270 Eur and only 13.5-16% of this figure would be related to the cost of defibrillators during their 8 years lifespan. This study showed that a community based model of PAD shortens the time to CPR and defibrillation significantly in an urban environment but various challenges have to be solved before wider implementation of PAD. In future projects the nature of the costs especially should be considered.