ABSTRACT
Standardized reporting of data is crucial for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) research. While the implementation of first responder systems dispatching volunteers to OHCA is encouraged, there is currently no uniform reporting standard for describing these systems. A steering committee established a literature search to identify experts in smartphone alerting systems. These international experts were invited to a conference held in Hinterzarten, Germany, with 40 researchers from 13 countries in attendance. Prior to the conference, participants submitted proposals for parameters to be included in the reporting standard. The conference comprised five workshops covering different aspects of smartphone alerting systems. Proposed parameters were discussed, clarified, and consensus was achieved using the Nominal Group Technique. Participants voted in a modified Delphi approach on including each category as a core or supplementary element in the reporting standard. Results were presented, and a writing group developed definitions for all categories and items, which were sent to participants for revision and final voting using LimeSurvey web-based software. The resulting reporting standard consists of 68 core items and 21 supplementary items grouped into five topics (first responder system, first responder network, technology/algorithm/strategies, reporting data, and automated external defibrillators (AED)). This proposed reporting standard generated by an expert opinion group fills the gap in describing first responder systems. Its adoption in future research will facilitate comparison of systems and research outcomes, enhancing the transfer of scientific findings to clinical practice.
Subject(s)
Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation , Emergency Responders , Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest , Humans , Smartphone , Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation/methods , Defibrillators , Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest/therapyABSTRACT
An EMS helicopter was scheduled to transport a woman with COVID-19 acute respiratory distress syndrome. However, the patient was found in prone position in the delivering hospital. After repositioning in the supine position, life-threatening hypoxemia occurred, so that the patient had to be returned to the prone position. After a structured decision making process, the patient could be transported with the helicopter without complications in prone position. Fortunately, the patient was stabilized in the further course of the disease and was transferred to a weaning facility breathing spontaneously with pressure support.
