CPR quality and outcomes after extracorporeal life support for pediatric In-Hospital cardiac arrest.

AIM OF STUDY: To determine outcomes in pediatric patients who had an in-hospital cardiac arrest and subsequently received extracorporeal cardiopulmonary resuscitation (ECPR). Our secondary objective was to identify cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) event characteristics and CPR quality metrics associated with survival after ECPR. METHODS: Multicenter retrospective cohort study of pediatric patients in the pediRES-Q database who received ECPR after in-hospital cardiac arrest between July 1, 2015 and June 2, 2021. Primary outcome was survival to ICU discharge. Secondary outcomes were survival to hospital discharge and favorable neurologic outcome at ICU and hospital discharge. RESULTS: Among 124 patients included in this study, median age was 0.9 years (IQR 0.2-5) and the majority of patients had primarily cardiac disease (92 patients, 75%). Survival to ICU discharge occurred in 61/120 (51%) patients, 36/61 (59%) of whom had favorable neurologic outcome. No demographic or clinical variables were associated with survival after ECPR. CONCLUSION: In this multicenter retrospective cohort study of pediatric patients who received ECPR for IHCA we found a high rate of survival to ICU discharge with good neurologic outcome.

Association Between Language Use and ICU Transfer and Serious Adverse Events in Hospitalized Pediatric Patients Who Experience Rapid Response Activation.

Background: Hospitalized patients and caregivers who use a language other than English have worse health outcomes, including longer length of stay, more frequent readmissions, and increased rates of in-hospital adverse events. Children who experience clinical deterioration (as measured by a Rapid Response Team event) during a hospitalization are at increased risk for adverse events and mortality. Methods: We describe the results of a retrospective cohort study using hospital records at a free-standing, quaternary children's hospital, to examine the association of language of care with outcomes (transfer to intensive care, adverse event, mortality prior to discharge) following Rapid Response Team event, and whether increased interpreter use among patients who use a language other than English is associated with improved outcomes following Rapid Response Team event. Results: In adjusted models, Rapid Response Team events for patients who use a language other than English were associated with higher transfer rates to intensive care (RR 1.1, 95% CI 1.01, 1.21), but not with adverse event or mortality. Among patients who use a language other than English, use of 1-2 interpreted sessions per day was associated with lower transfer rates to intensive care compared to use of less than one interpreted session per day (RR 0.79, 95% 0.66, 0.95). Conclusion: Rapid Response Team events for hospitalized children of families who use a language other than English are more often followed by transfer to intensive care, compared with Rapid Response Team events for children of families who use English. Improved communication with increased interpreter use for hospitalized children who use a language other than English may lead to improvements in Rapid Response Team outcomes.

Ethical Considerations in Ever-Expanding Utilization of ECLS: A Research Agenda.

Technological advancements and rapid expansion in the clinical use of extracorporeal life support (ECLS) across all age ranges in the last decade, including during the COVID-19 pandemic, has led to important ethical considerations. As a costly and resource intensive therapy, ECLS is used emergently under high stakes circumstances where there is often prognostic uncertainty and risk for serious complications. To develop a research agenda to further characterize and address these ethical dilemmas, a working group of specialists in ECLS, critical care, cardiothoracic surgery, palliative care, and bioethics convened at a single pediatric academic institution over the course of 18 months. Using an iterative consensus process, research questions were selected based on: (1) frequency, (2) uniqueness to ECLS, (3) urgency, (4) feasibility to study, and (5) potential to improve patient care. Questions were categorized into broad domains of societal decision-making, bedside decision-making, patient and family communication, medical team dynamics, and research design and implementation. A deeper exploration of these ethical dilemmas through formalized research and deliberation may improve equitable access and quality of ECLS-related medical care.

Resuscitation practices in hospitals caring for children: Insights from get with the guidelines-resuscitation.

Background: Resuscitation practices in pediatric hospitals have not been compared, and whether practices differ between freestanding pediatric only hospitals and combined hospitals (which care for adults and children) is unknown. Methods: We surveyed hospitals that submit data on pediatric in-hospital cardiac arrest (IHCA) to Get-With-The Guidelines®-Resuscitation, to elicit information on resuscitation practices. Hospitals were categorized as pediatric only and combined hospitals, and rates of resuscitation practices were compared. Results: Thirty-three hospitals with ≥5 IHCA events between 2017-2019 completed the survey, of which 9 (27.3%) were pediatric only and 24 (72.7%) were combined hospitals. Overall, 18 (54.5%) hospitals used a device to measure chest compression quality, 16 (48.5%) had a staff member monitor chest compression quality, 10 (30.3%) used lanyards or hats to designate code leaders during a resuscitation, 16 (48.5%) routinely conducted code debriefings immediately after a resuscitation, and 7 (21.2%) conducted mock codes at least quarterly with 17 (51.5%) reporting no set schedule. Pediatric only hospitals were more likely to employ a device to measure chest compressions (88.9% vs. 41.7%; P = 0.02), conduct code debriefings always or frequently after resuscitations (77.8% vs. 37.5%, P = 0.04), use lanyards or a hat to designate the code team leader during resuscitations (66.7% vs. 16.7%, P = 0.006), and allow nurses to defibrillate using an AED (77.8% vs. 29.2%, P = 0.01). There were no differences in simulation frequency or other resuscitation practices between the two hospital groups. Conclusions: Across hospitals caring for children, substantial variation exists in resuscitation practices, with notable differences between pediatric only and combined hospitals.

CHoosing Active Role Models to INspire Girls (CHARMING): protocol for a cluster randomised feasibility trial of a school-based, community-linked programme to increase physical activity levels in 9-10-year-old girls.

BACKGROUND: In the UK, there is evidence that girls' physical activity tends to decline to a greater extent than boys as they enter adolescence. 'Role models' could play a vital role in inspiring girls to become or remain physically active. The CHARMING Programme is a primary school-based community linked role-model programme, co-developed in 2016, with children, parents, schools and wider stakeholders. It involves different types of physical activity delivered for 1-h each week by a community provider and peer role models (e.g. older girls from secondary schools) joining in with the sessions. The programme ultimately aims to increase and sustain physical activity levels among 9-10-year-old girls. This study aims to assess the feasibility and acceptability of the CHARMING Programme and of evaluating it using a randomised trial. METHODS: This study is a feasibility cluster randomised controlled trial, with embedded process evaluation and health economic evaluation. Approximately 90 Year 5 (i.e. 9-10-year-old) girls will be recruited across six primary schools in Mid-South Wales. Participating schools will be allocated to the programme: control on a 2:1 basis; four intervention schools will run the CHARMING Programme and two will continue with usual practice. A survey and accelerometer will be administered at baseline and repeated at 12 months. Interviews and focus groups will be conducted post-intervention delivery. The primary aim is to assess feasibility of a future randomised trial via the recruitment of schools, participants and role models; randomisation; retention; reach; data collection completion rates; programme adherence; and programme fidelity, views on intervention acceptability and programme barriers and facilitators. Secondary aims are to evaluate established physical activity outcome measures for children plus additional health economic outcomes for inclusion in a future full-scale trial. DISCUSSION: The results of this study will inform decisions on whether and how to proceed to a full-scale evaluation of the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of the CHARMING Programme to improve or sustain physical activity. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov ISRCTN36223327. Registered March 29, 2021.

Hyperoxia after pediatric cardiac arrest: Association with survival and neurological outcomes.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the association between hyperoxia in the first 24 hours after in-hospital pediatric cardiac arrest and mortality and poor neurological outcome. METHODS: This is a retrospective cohort study of inpatients in a freestanding children's hospital. We included all patients younger than 18 years of age with in-hospital cardiac arrest between December 2012 and December 2019, who achieved return of circulation (ROC) for longer than 20 minutes, survived at least 24 hours after cardiac arrest, and had documented PaO2 or SpO2 during the first 24 hours after ROC. Hyperoxia was defined as having at least one level of PaO2 above 200 mmHg in the first 24 hours after cardiac arrest. RESULTS: There were 187 patients who met eligibility criteria, of whom 48% had hyperoxia during the first 24 hours after cardiac arrest. In-hospital mortality was 41%, with similar mortality between oxygenation groups (hyperoxia 45% vs no hyperoxia 38%). We did not observe an association between hyperoxia and in-hospital mortality or poor neurological outcome after adjusting for confounders (odds ratio 1.2, 95% confidence interval 0.5-2.8). On sensitivity analysis using two additional cutoffs of PaO2 (>150 mmHg and > 300 mmHg), there was also no association with in-hospital mortality or poor neurological outcome after adjusting for confounders. Similarly, on multivariable logistic regression using SpO2 > 99% as the exposure, there was no difference in the frequency of death or poor neurological outcome at hospital discharge. CONCLUSION: Hyperoxia after pediatric cardiac arrest was common and was not associated with worse in-hospital outcomes.

Risk factors and outcomes for recurrent paediatric in-hospital cardiac arrest: Retrospective multicenter cohort study.

AIM OF STUDY: Recurrent in-hospital cardiac arrest (IHCA) is associated with morbidity and mortality in adults. We aimed to describe the risk factors and outcomes for paediatric recurrent IHCA. METHODS: Retrospective cohort study of patients ≤18 years old with single or recurrent IHCA. Recurrent IHCA was defined as ≥2 IHCA within the same hospitalization. Categorical variables expressed as percentages and compared via Chi square test. Continuous variables expressed as medians with interquartile ranges and compared via rank sum test. Outcomes assessed in a propensity match cohort. RESULTS: From July 1, 2015 to January 26, 2021, 139/894 (15.5%) patients experienced recurrent IHCA. Compared to patients with a single IHCA, recurrent IHCA patients were more likely to be trauma and less likely to be surgical cardiac patients. Median duration of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) was shorter in the recurrent IHCA (5 vs. 11 min; p < 0.001) with no difference in IHCA location or immediate cause of CPR. Patients with recurrent IHCA had worse survival to intensive care unit (ICU) discharge (31% vs. 52%; p < 0.001), and worse survival to hospital discharge (30% vs. 48%; p < 0.001) in unadjusted analyses and after propensity matching, patients with recurrent IHCA still had worse survival to ICU (34% vs. 67%; p < 0.001) and hospital (31% vs. 64%; p < 0.001) discharge. CONCLUSION: When examining those with a single vs. a recurrent IHCA, event and patient factors including more pre-existing conditions and shorter duration of CPR were associated with risk for recurrent IHCA. Recurrent IHCA is associated with worse survival outcomes following propensity matching.

Contextual Factors Affecting Implementation of In-hospital Pediatric CPR Quality Improvement Interventions in a Resuscitation Collaborative.

INTRODUCTION: Pediatric quality improvement (QI) collaboratives are multisite clinical networks that support cooperative learning. Our goal is to identify the contextual facilitators and barriers to implementing QI resuscitation interventions within a multicenter resuscitation collaborative. METHODS: A mixed-methods evaluation of the contextual facilitators and barriers to implementation of a resuscitation QI bundle. We administered a quantitative questionnaire, the Model for Understanding Success in Quality (MUSIQ), to the Pediatric Resuscitation Quality (pediRES-Q) Collaborative. Its primary goal is to optimize the care of children who experience in-hospital cardiac arrest through a resuscitation QI bundle. We also conducted semistructured phone interviews with site primary investigators adapted from the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research qualitative interview guide. RESULTS: All 13 actively participating US sites completed the MUSIQ questionnaire. Total MUSIQ scores ranged from 86.0 to 140.5 (median of 118.7, interquartile range 103.6-124.5). Evaluation of the QI team subsection noted a mean score of 5.5 for low implementers and 6.1 for high implementers (P = 0.02). We conducted 8 interviews with the local QI team leadership. Contextual facilitators included a unified institutional approach to QI, a fail forward climate, leadership support, strong microculture, knowledge of other organizations, and prioritization of goals. Contextual barriers included low team tenure, no specific allocation of resources, lack of formalized QI training, and lack of support and buy-in by leaders and staff. CONCLUSIONS: Using mixed methods, we identified an association between the local QI team's strength and the successful implementation of the QI interventions.

Pandemics and Beyond: Considerations When Personal Risk and Professional Obligations Converge.

With each novel infectious disease outbreak, there is scholarly attention to healthcare providers' obligation to assume personal risk while they care for infected patients. While most agree that healthcare providers have a duty to assume some degree of risk, the extent of this obligation remains uncertain. Furthermore, these analyses rarely examine healthcare institutions' obligations during these outbreaks. As a result, there is little practical guidance for healthcare institutions that are forced to weigh whether or when to exclude healthcare providers from providing care or allow them to opt out from providing care to protect themselves. This article uses the COVID-19 pandemic to examine the concept of risk and the professional duties of both healthcare providers and healthcare institutions, and proposes a framework that can be used to make concrete institutional policy choices. This framework should be a useful tool for any hospital, clinic, or health agency that must make these choices during the current pandemic and beyond.

Code Team Structure and Training in the Pediatric Resuscitation Quality International Collaborative.

OBJECTIVES: Code team structure and training for pediatric in-hospital cardiac arrest are variable. There are no data on the optimal structure of a resuscitation team. The objective of this study is to characterize the structure and training of pediatric code teams in sites participating in the Pediatric Resuscitation Quality Collaborative. METHODS: From May to July 2017, an anonymous voluntary survey was distributed to 18 sites in the international Pediatric Resuscitation Quality Collaborative. The survey content was developed by the study investigators and iteratively adapted by consensus. Descriptive statistics were calculated. RESULTS: All sites have a designated code team and hospital-wide code team activation system. Code team composition varies greatly across sites, with teams consisting of 3 to 17 members. Preassigned roles for code team members before the event occur at 78% of sites. A step stool and backboard are used during resuscitations in 89% of surveyed sites. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) feedback is used by 72% of the sites. Of those sites that use CPR feedback, all use an audiovisual feedback device incorporated into the defibrillator and 54% use a CPR coach. Multidisciplinary and simulation-based code team training is conducted by 67% of institutions. CONCLUSIONS: Code team structure, equipment, and training vary widely in a survey of international children's hospitals. The variations in team composition, role assignments, equipment, and training described in this article will be used to facilitate future studies regarding the impact of structure and training of code teams on team performance and patient outcomes.

A Transdisciplinary Complex Adaptive Systems (T-CAS) Approach to Developing a National School-Based Culture of Prevention for Health Improvement: the School Health Research Network (SHRN) in Wales.

The paper reflects on a transdisciplinary complex adaptive systems (T-CAS) approach to the development of a school health research network (SHRN) in Wales for a national culture of prevention for health improvement in schools. A T-CAS approach focuses on key stages and activities within a continuous network cycle to facilitate systems level change. The theory highlights the importance of establishing transdisciplinary strategic partnerships to identify and develop opportunities for system reorientation. Investment in and the linking of resources develops the capacity for key social agents to take advantage of disruption points in the re-orientated system, and engagement activities develop the network to facilitate new social interactions and opportunities for transdisciplinary activities. A focus on transdisciplinary action research to co-produce interventions, generate research evidence and inform policy and practice is shown to play an important part in developing new normative processes that act to self-regulate the emerging system. Finally, the provision of reciprocal network benefits provides critical feedback loops that stabilise the emerging adaptive system and promote the network cycle. SHRN is shown to have embedded itself in the system by securing sustainability funding from health and education, a key role in national and regional planning and recruiting every eligible school to the network. It has begun to reorient the system to one of evidence generation (56 research studies co-produced) and opportunities for data-led practice at multiple levels. Further capacity development will be required to capitalise on these. The advantages of a complex systems approach to address barriers to change and the transferability of a T-CAS network approach across settings and cultures are highlighted.

Age-Based Percentiles of Measured Mean Arterial Pressure in Pediatric Patients in a Hospital Setting.

OBJECTIVES: To develop and validate age-specific percentile curves of measured mean arterial pressure for children in a hospital setting. DESIGN: Retrospective observational study of electronic records. SETTING: Tertiary care, freestanding pediatric hospital in Seattle, WA. PATIENTS: Nonpremature children, birth to 18 years old, evaluated in the emergency room, or admitted to either acute care or critical care units. INTERVENTIONS: Oscillometric blood pressure data collected from February 2012 to June 2016 were examined for documentation of systolic, diastolic, and mean arterial pressure values. Quantile curves were developed using restricted cubic splines and validated with two sets of patient data. The effects of birth sex and behavioral state on the curves were examined. The frequency of values less than 5th percentile for mean arterial pressure within a population was compared with four published criteria for hypotension. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Eighty-five-thousand two-hundred ninety-eight patients (47% female) provided 2,385,122 mean arterial pressure readings to develop and validate age-based distributions to create percentile curves and a reference table. The behavior state of patients affected the curves, with disturbed behavior state more prevalent in toddler-aged patients. There was no clinical difference between females and males within age brackets. Mean arterial pressure quantiles identified additional hypotensive episodes as compared with systolic blood pressure thresholds and predicted mean arterial pressure values. Code and data available at: https://osf.io/upqtv/. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first study reporting age-specific quantiles of measured mean arterial pressure in children in a hospital setting. The percentile curves may guide care in illnesses when perfusion pressure is critical and serve as parameter for bedside and electronic record-based response to clinical change. Future work to correlate threshold mean arterial pressure values with outcomes would be feasible based on quantile curves.

Outcomes After In-Hospital Pediatric Recurrent Cardiac Arrests.

OBJECTIVES: The objective of this study is to determine outcomes of recurrent cardiac arrest events in the general pediatric inpatient population. DESIGN: Retrospective cohort study of inpatients in a single institution. SETTING: A tertiary care free-standing children's hospital. PATIENTS: All patients less than 18 years old at Seattle Children's Hospital with recurrent cardiac arrest events occurring from January 1, 2010, to March 1, 2018, were included. INTERVENTIONS: None. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Overall survival to hospital discharge was 50% and all survivors had a good neurologic outcome, defined as Pediatric Cerebral Performance Category of 3 or less, or unchanged from baseline. Survival among patients who received extracorporeal life support was 43% and among those who received extracorporeal cardiopulmonary resuscitation, 33%. Initial arrest factors associated with survival included initial rhythm of ventricular tachycardia or ventricular fibrillation, shorter duration of cardiopulmonary resuscitation, and absence of multiple organ dysfunction. Additionally, nonsurvivors had more severe metabolic acidosis in the prearrest and postarrest period. CONCLUSIONS: Survival after pediatric in-hospital recurrent cardiac arrest is higher than previously reported. There is also evidence that initial rhythm other than ventricular tachycardia/ventricular fibrillation and longer duration of cardiopulmonary resuscitation as well as multiple organ dysfunction and more severe lactic acidosis in the peri-arrest period are associated with poor outcomes.

Nasal high flow therapy introduction lowers reintubation risk in a Peruvian paediatric intensive care unit.

AIM: We examined the impact of introducing high-flow nasal oxygen therapy (HFNT) on children under five with post-extubation respiratory failure in a paediatric intensive care unit (PICU) in Peru. METHODS: This quasi-experimental study compared clinical outcomes before and after initial HFNT deployment in the PICU at Instituto Nacional de Salud del Niño in Lima in June 2016. We compared three groups: 29 received post-extubation HFNT and 17 received continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) from 2016-17 and 12 historical controls received CPAP from 2012-16. The primary outcome was the need for mechanical ventilation. Adjusted hazard ratios (aHR) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) were calculated via survival analysis. RESULTS: High-flow nasal oxygen therapy and CPAP did not alter the need for mechanical ventilation after extubation (aHR 0.47, 95% CI 0.15-1.48 and 0.96, 95% CI 0.35-2.62, respectively) but did reduce the risk of reintubation (aHR 0.18, 95% CI 0.06-0.57 and 0.14, 95% CI 0.03-0.72, respectively). PICU length of stay was 11, 18 and 37 days for CPAP, HFNT and historical CPAP and mortality was 12%, 7% and 27%, respectively. There was no effect on the duration of sedative infusions. CONCLUSION: High-flow nasal oxygen therapy provided effective support for some children, but larger studies in resource-constrained settings are needed.

Techniques to Improve Photodynamic Therapy.

Photodynamic therapy [dye-light therapy] is an excellent technique for use in detection and treatment of cancerous tissues. While this therapy is effective, it is limited by the phototoxic reactions that can occur in the surrounding normal tissues. These damaging side effects are of particular importance when treating neurosensory organs, such as the human eye. We report here new treatment strategies to enhance photodynamic effectiveness while limiting side effects to normal tissues.

Epinephrine in children receiving cardiopulmonary resuscitation for bradycardia with poor perfusion.

AIM: To determine whether the use of epinephrine in pediatric patients receiving cardiopulmonary resuscitation for bradycardia and poor perfusion was associated with improved clinical outcomes. METHODS: Using the Get With The Guidelines-Resuscitation registry, we included pediatric patients (≤18 years) who received in-hospital cardiopulmonary resuscitation for bradycardia with poor perfusion (non-pulseless event) between January 2000 and December 2018. Time-dependent propensity score matching was used to match patients receiving epinephrine within the first 10 min of resuscitation to patients at risk of receiving epinephrine within the same minute. RESULTS: In the full cohort, 55% of patients were male and 39% were neonates. A higher number of patients receiving epinephrine required vasopressors and mechanical ventilation prior to the event compared to those not receiving epinephrine. A total of 3528 patients who received epinephrine were matched to 3528 patients at risk of receiving epinephrine based on the propensity score. Epinephrine was associated with decreased survival to hospital discharge (RR, 0.79 [95% CI, 0.74-0.85]; p < 0.001), return of spontaneous circulation (RR, 0.94 [95% CI, 0,91-0.96]; p < 0.001), 24-h survival (RR, 0.85 [95% CI, 0.81-0.90]; p < 0.001), and favorable neurological outcome (RR, 0.76 [95% CI, 0.68-0.84]; p < 0.001). Epinephrine was also associated with an increased risk of progression to pulselessness (RR, 1.17 [95% CI, 1.06-1.28]; p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: In children receiving cardiopulmonary resuscitation for bradycardia with poor perfusion, epinephrine was associated with worse outcomes, although the study does not eliminate the potential for confounding.

Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation in the Pediatric Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory: A Report From the American Heart Association's Get With the Guidelines-Resuscitation Registry.

OBJECTIVES: Hospitalized children with underlying heart disease are at high risk for cardiac arrest, particularly when they undergo invasive catheterization procedures for diagnostic and therapeutic interventions. Outcomes for children experiencing cardiac arrest in the cardiac catheterization laboratory remain under-reported with few studies reporting survival beyond the catheterization laboratory. We aim to describe survival outcomes after cardiac arrest in the cardiac catheterization laboratory while identifying risk factors associated with hospital mortality after these events. DESIGN: Retrospective observational study of data from a multicenter cardiac arrest registry from November 2005 to November 2016. Cardiac arrest in the cardiac catheterization laboratory was defined as the need for chest compressions greater than or equal to 1 minute in the cardiac catheterization laboratory. Primary outcome was survival to discharge. Variables analyzed using generalized estimating equations for association with survival included age, illness category (surgical cardiac, medical cardiac), preexisting conditions, pharmacologic interventions, and event duration. SETTING: American Heart Association's Get With the Guidelines-Resuscitation registry of in-hospital cardiac arrest. PATIENTS: Consecutive patients less than 18 years old experiencing an index (i.e., first) cardiac arrest event reported to the Get With the Guidelines-Resuscitation. INTERVENTIONS: None. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: A total of 203 patients met definition of index cardiac arrest in the cardiac catheterization laboratory composed primarily of surgical and medical cardiac patients (54% and 41%, respectively). Children less than 1 year old comprised the majority of patients, 58% (117/203). Overall survival to hospital discharge was 69% (141/203). No differences in survival were observed between surgical and medical cardiac patients (p = 0.15). The majority of deaths (69%, 43/62) occurred in patients less than 1 year old. Bradycardia (with pulse) followed by pulseless electrical activity/asystole were the most common first documented rhythms observed (50% and 27%, respectively). Preexisting metabolic/electrolyte abnormalities (p = 0.02), need for vasoactive infusions (p = 0.03) prior to arrest, and use of calcium products (p = 0.005) were found to be significantly associated with lower rates of survival to discharge on multivariable regression. CONCLUSIONS: The majority of children experiencing cardiac arrest in the cardiac catheterization laboratory in this large multicenter registry analysis survived to hospital discharge, with no observable difference in outcomes between surgical and medical cardiac patients. Future investigations that focus on stratifying medical complexity in addition to procedural characteristics at the time of catheterization are needed to better identify risks for mortality after cardiac arrest in the cardiac catheterization laboratory.

Impacts of a Pediatric Extracorporeal Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (ECPR) Simulation Training Program.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the impacts of a large-scale simulation-based extracorporeal cardiopulmonary resuscitation (ECPR) training program in an academic children's hospital. METHODS: The study followed a quasi-experimental, mixed-method, time series design. Two-hour high-fidelity ECPR simulations were held monthly in the pediatric, cardiac, and neonatal intensive care units. Intensive care unit-specific cases were used in each unit. The learning objectives for all cases were the same. Each simulation included an average of 11 health care professionals, including nurses, physicians, respiratory therapist, and perfusionists. Impacts of training were examined using Kirkpatrick's 4-level model: reactions, learning, behaviors, and results. Participant surveys, semistructured interviews, facilitator observations, applied cognitive task analysis, and hospital code data were used to examine the impacts of training. RESULTS: From February 2014 to October 2016, a total of 332 health care professionals participated in 29 ECPR simulations. Participants enjoyed the simulations and reported learning gains. Applied cognitive task analysis revealed 2 specific behaviors, coordination of compressions with surgical cannulation and performing sterile compressions, that were targeted for further training. The rate of adherence to the ECPR activation protocol improved from 83% (48/58) before simulations started to 95% (92/97) after simulations (P = .02). ECPR activation time decreased from 7 minutes (interquartile range, 4-9 minutes) before simulations started to 2 minutes (interquartile range, 1-4 minutes) after simulations (P < .01). CONCLUSIONS: Large-scale simulation-based ECPR training was associated with positive reactions, learning gains, behavioral change, improved adherence to the ECPR activation protocols, and faster activation times. Other children's hospital that perform ECPR should consider simulation-based training.

Feasibility of high-flow nasal cannula implementation for children with acute lower respiratory tract disease in rural Kenya.

Background: High-flow nasal cannula (HFNC) is a well-established respiratory support device in high-income countries, but to our knowledge, its use in sub-Saharan Africa has not been reported. This feasability study describes the implementation process of HFNC in rural Kenya. Methods: HFNC was implemented in intensive care and high dependency units at Kijabe Hospital, Kenya for children with acute lower respiratory disease. Rate of intubation was compared with historical controls and challenges of implementation described. Results: Fifteen patients received HFNC between January and November 2016, and compared to 25 historical control patients. Both groups had many comorbidities, and control patients were significantly younger. There were no significant differences in clinical outcome between the groups: 5 (33%) HFNC vs 12 (48%) controls required intubation; 10 (67%) HFNC vs 22 (88%) controls survived to discharge; and the HFNC required 3 vs the controls' 4 days on respiratory support. The greatest technical issues encountered were large pressure differences between air from a wall outlet (wall air) and oxygen and an inability to automatically refill humidifier water chambers. Conclusion: HFNC in limited-resource settings is feasible but there were technical challenges and concern about the increased workload. The small sample size, heterogeneous population, availability of oxygen and blending of wall air at the study site limit inferences for other sites in low- and middle-income countries. Abbreviations: ALRI, acute lower respiratory infection; CPAP, continuous positive airway pressure; ETAT, emergency triage, assessment and treatment; HDU, high dependency unit; HFNC, high-flow nasal cannula; HIC, high-income country; HR, heart rate; ICU, intensive care unit; LMIC, low- and middle-income countries; PSI, pounds per square inch; RR, respiratory rate; mRISC, modified Respiratory Index of Severity in Children.