We have a significant way to go with respect to our cardiac arrest management.
‘Cardiopulmoary Resuscitation is attempted in nearly 30,000 people who suffered OHCA in England each year, but survival rates are low and compare unfavourably to a number of other countries’ – Resuscitation to Recovery 2017
25% of patients get a ROSC with 7-8% of patients surviving to hospital discharge, which as mentioned is hugely below some countries.
In this podcast we run through cardiac arrest management and the associated evidence base, right from chest compressions, through to drugs, prognostication and ceasing resuscitation attempts.
Make sure you take a look at the papers and references yourself and we would love to hear you feedback!
Enjoy!
References & Further Reading
Resuscitation to Recovery Document
Dual sequential defibrillation: Does one plus one equal two? Deakin CD. Resuscitation. 2016
Dear Simon, Rob en James,
Thank you for again an excellent podcast.
Wanted to let you know that in the Netherlands it is standard practice too pre-charge the defibrillator before the ritme check and dump the charge if it is not necessary. The rational is that every interruption of cpr causes a drop in coronary and brain perfusion. Because it is standard practice the dumping is routine and we don’t even do a ritme check without the beeping sound of a charged defibrillator. Safety is always something you have to think about, we always take the standard measure of hands off and oxygen away the moment we do a ritme check. Something to think about is that a conducted hit from a defibrillator is not something that potentially causes a lot of damage and there are studies that you can continue cpr during defibrillation if you are wearing gloves.
Continue the great work on the podcast,
Kind regards,
David Baden
Emergency resident Hoorn, the Netherlands
Thanks David
Really interesting to hear, interesting the big difference in regional practice and to see if we will soon follow your lead!
Cheers
Simon
As a CFR this chat obviously goes way beyond my role but as someone who is potentially first on scene – the discussion around getting the patient into a better space if possible if definitely something I will bear in mind going forward. Also fully support the idea of getting as many people trained in hands-on CPR as possible.
Thanks Russell, glad it was useful.
Simon
I must say, I emphatically disagree with the use of Naloxone in actual cardiac arrest. There is no data to actually support it.
First time podcast listener here! Thought it interesting to comment that we in Australia are also taught in our ACLS courses as per ANZCOR guidelines to charge the defibrillator before stopping cpr and rhythm check to minimise length of interruption in CPR. Then we dump the charge immediately if indicated. – Intensive Care Registered Nurse
Hi Abby
Thanks for getting in touch. It sounds like we may actually be in the minority here by not charging prior to the rhythm check, you’re not the only one to have said that!
Hope the podcast was useful