Challenges in the delivery of critical care in India during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Coronavirus disease 2019 cases in India continue to increase and are expected to peak over the next few weeks. Based on some projection models, India is expected to have more than 10 million cases by September 2020. The spectrum of disease can vary from mild upper respiratory tract symptoms to life-threatening acute respiratory distress syndrome and multi-organ failure requiring intensive care. Even if less than 5% of patients require critical care services, this will still rapidly overwhelm the healthcare system in a country, where intensive care services and resources are scarce and unevenly distributed. In this perspective article, we highlight the critical care preparedness of India for the pandemic and the associated challenges.

Study of the impact of training of registered nurses in cardiopulmonary resuscitation in a tertiary care centre on patient mortality.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Nurses should have cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) knowledge and skills to be able to implement effective interventions during in-hospital cardiac arrest. The aim of this descriptive study was to assess mortality impact after nurses' CPR training with pre-CPR training data at our institute. METHODS: Training regarding CPR was given to nurses, and CPR mortality 1-year before basic life support (BLS) and advanced cardiac life support (ACLS) training were collected and compared with post-training 1-year CPR mortality. RESULTS: A total of 632 adult patients suffering in-hospital cardiac arrest over the study period. CPR was attempted in 294 patients during the pre-BLS/ACLS training period and in 338 patients in the post-BLS/ACLS training period. In the pre-BLS/ACLS training period, 58 patients (19.7%) had return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC), while during the post-BLS/ACLS training period, 102 patients (30.1%) had ROSC (P = 0.003). Sixteen of the 58 patients (27.5%) who achieved ROSC during the pre-BLS/ACLS training period survived to hospital discharge, compared 54 out of 102 patients (52.9%) in the post-BLS/ACLS training period (P < 0.0001). There was no significant association between either the age or sex with the outcomes in the study. CONCLUSION: Training nurses in cardiopulmonary resuscitation resulted in a significant improvement in survival to hospital discharge after in-hospital cardiac arrest.