Emergency Cardiac Care News Digest is an assortment of current events and news related to emergency cardiac care and resuscitation. Produced by Code One Training Solutions, Emergency Cardiac Care News Digest is published every Friday throughout the year.
Initial Defibrillator Pad Position and Outcomes for Shockable Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest
This prospective cohort study included patients with OHCA and VF or pVT treated by a single North American emergency medical services (EMS) agency from July 1, 2019, through June 30, 2023. The study included patients with OHCA treated by a large suburban fire-based EMS agency that covers a population of 550 000. Consecutive patients with an initial EMS-assessed rhythm of VF or pVT receiving EMS defibrillation were included. Pediatric patients (younger than 18 years), interfacility transfers, arrests of obvious traumatic etiology, and patients with preexisting do-not-resuscitate status were excluded.
Access the full article: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2823184
An Invited Commentary: The Details Matter for Defibrillator Pad Placement and Cardiac Arrest Resuscitation by Dr. Tom Rea and Dr. Peter Kudenchuk.
Access the full article: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2823189
Bills fan uses CPR to save another man’s life, will be honored at Highmark Stadium before home opener
“You had to be there to believe it.”
Those are the words of Bills fan Nick Maneely, a 39-year-old father who earlier this year, performed CPR with the help of two other fathers nearby to save another man’s life during his son’s youth lacrosse game in Rochester.
The three fathers will be honored pregame at Highmark Stadium with the American Heart Association’s HeartSaver Award.
Maneely and a hundred or so families were at Tri County Sports Complex on Feb. 1 when Dale Lazzaro, the father of one of the other boys, suddenly went into cardiac arrest. Maneely was in the area and spotted a woman calling out for help and went over to assess the situation.
Of Course EMS Is an Essential Service. States Need to Make That Official
Designating them by law would go a long way toward addressing the many issues these critical services face. They have evolved over decades to encompass a multitude of responsibilities.
When most of us think of emergency medical services and the importance of getting trained professionals to the scene of an emergency quickly, official state designations are not the first thing that comes to mind. Yet one of the more pressing issues impacting modern-day EMS agencies is whether they are formally considered an essential service in their states.
Access the full article: https://www.governing.com/policy/of-course-ems-is-an-essential-service-states-need-to-make-that-official
EMS agencies, communities work to make Wyoming safer amid serious challenges
Luke Sypherd stood in the ambulance bay at Cody Regional Health last summer, trying to explain why emergency medical services are so important — and why it’s been so hard to communicate that idea to the public. Sypherd works with Cody Regional’s EMS wing, and is also president of the Wyoming EMS Association.
He wants people to understand that “disease and death cost a lot,” but well-funded, and therefore well-functioning, EMS can help reduce those costs in the long run.
There are a plethora of studies demonstrating how EMS timeliness can save lives and limit long-term disability. That includes instances of severe trauma, stroke and heart attacks.
“The estimated effect of a 1-minute reduction in response time was to improve the odds of (out-of-hospital cardiac arrest) survival by 24%,” one such study in the United Kingdom found.
Wyoming and other rural places are struggling with how to pay for emergency medical services, which generally don’t enjoy the same funding certainties as fire and police.
Defibrillators improve survival rates, quality of life
“It took near-death for me to realize that I hadn’t been taking care of myself,” he said.
At age 40, Fitzsimmons’ heart stopped. He was rescued by a co-worker and a sheriff’s deputy who used an automated external defibrillator.
People brought back to life with defibrillators survive just as long as those with similar conditions who haven’t had cardiac arrest. They also have good quality of life, Mayo Clinic researchers have shown in the New England Journal of Medicine. Past research showed the earlier a defibrillator is used, the better the chances for the victim.
More: https://www.postbulletin.com/news/defibrillators-improve-survival-rates-quality-of-life
‘Life Hikers’ raise tens of thousands for life-saving defibrillators in the capital
Walkers taking part in the London Ambulance Charity’s first ever fundraising London Life Hike on Sunday (8 September) raised almost £25,000 – enough to pay for 15 defibrillators to be used by local communities in London.
More than 200 Londoners joined the Charity’s inaugural walk with a shared mission to help save lives and improve cardiac arrest survival in the capital for the London Heart Starters campaign.
The money raised will help us buy more public-access defibrillators, which make a crucial difference when someone’s heart stops beating, for the neighbourhoods in London that need them most.
Before setting off on their 20km or 5km journeys that took in breath-taking views of famous London landmarks, ‘Life Hikers’ took part in CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) training and other educational activities at a vibrant event village at Battersea Park.
Why so many patients are confused about CPR and do-not-resuscitate orders
Inherently difficult conversations are made more so by a lack of physician training
When a patient is admitted to the hospital in the U.S., there’s a standard question physicians like me are supposed to ask: “If your heart stops beating, do you want us to do CPR?”
On the surface, this may seem like a mechanic asking a customer, “If your car stalls, do you want us to jumpstart the engine?” Who would say no to this, especially in a hospital?
The problem is that this exchange, which we call asking about “code status” in medicine, centers around a closed-ended question. Talking to a patient about their preferences for cardiac resuscitation, intubation, and/or other life-sustaining treatments needs to be a complete, often lengthy discussion, not just a box to check.
More to the story: https://www.statnews.com/2024/09/11/cpr-dnr-do-not-resuscitate-code-status/
Assessing Medical Students’ Understanding of Do-Not-Resuscitate (DNR) Orders
This study employed a cross-sectional design at Umm Al-Qura University in 2023. Convenience sampling yielded a sample of 145 participants, encompassing medical students from all years (first-sixth) and medical interns. A self-administered online questionnaire assessed participants’ knowledge, beliefs, and attitudes regarding DNR orders. The questionnaire specifically addressed their familiarity with DNR orders, their understanding of the Islamic perspective on DNR, and the factors influencing their attitudes toward DNR.
Study information: https://www.cureus.com/articles/294907-assessing-medical-students-understanding-of-do-not-resuscitate-dnr-orders#!/
Fatboy Slim joins footballers for CPR training
Brighton & Hove Albion stars have been shown vital CPR skills as part of an annual resuscitation awareness campaign.
The Kent, Sussex and Surrey Air Ambulance (KSS) flew over the Amex stadium on Tuesday ahead of a pitchside training session.
The football players were joined by their celebrity ambassador Norman Cook, also known as Fatboy Slim, to learn how to give CPR and use a defibrillator.
KSS executive medical director Duncan Bootland said the aim is to “create an army of lifesavers across Kent, Surrey and Sussex”.
Learn more: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ckg2ld22gkzo
American Red Cross and ClimbHi team up to teach keiki CPR
KHON2 News
King Liholiho Elementary was the site of a mass CPR training as the American Red Cross and ClimbHI teamed up on the initiative.
Many Schools Nationwide Still Lack AEDS On Campus
DS43 Community Defibrillators installs new defibrillator on Bellway’s new Harwell Park development in Hartlepool
DS43 Community Defibrillators paid for the equipment and installation of the potentially life-saving device to make it available to residents and visitors to Bellway Durham’s Hartwell Park should someone suffer a cardiac arrest.
As roads on the development have yet to be adopted by the local authority, the charity had to seek Bellway’s permission to install both the defibrillator itself and a mini lamp post onto which the device could be fixed.
“Positioning public access defibrillators in areas which don’t have a suitable building to house them on has presented challenges, none more so than on new developments.”
Resuscitation Science Symposium 2024, November 16–17, 2024, Chicago, IL
Join multidisciplinary discussions on the latest in resuscitation science and practice implementation in emergency settings. Build your network and knowledge by engaging with critical care and emergency professionals.
This is an international forum geared towards lively discussions focusing on recent advances in treating cardiopulmonary arrest, discussing bench-to-bedside and community-based research findings related to cardiopulmonary and resuscitation science, emergency cardiovascular care, and CPR quality improvement in adults and pediatrics. Engage with multidisciplinary peers and build your network at every stage of your career.
Learn more here: https://professional.heart.org/en/meetings/resuscitation-science-symposium
ENCORE: Strategies to Improve Cardiac Arrest Survival – A Time to Act
Strategies to Improve Cardiac Arrest Survival examines the complete system of response to cardiac arrest in the United States and identifies opportunities within existing and new treatments, strategies, and research that promise to improve the survival and recovery of patients. The recommendations of Strategies to Improve Cardiac Arrest Survival provide high-priority actions to advance the field as a whole. This report will help citizens, government agencies, and private industry to improve health outcomes from sudden cardiac arrest across the United States.
Learn more: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK305685/
ENCORE: Organ Donation After Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest: A Scientific Statement From the International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation
Improving rates of organ donation among patients with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest who do not survive is an opportunity to save countless lives. The objectives of this scientific statement were to do the following: define the opportunity for organ donation among patients with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest; identify challenges and opportunities associated with organ donation by patients with cardiac arrest; identify strategies, including a generic protocol for organ donation after cardiac arrest, to increase the rate and consistency of organ donation from this population; and provide rationale for including organ donation as a key clinical outcome for all future cardiac arrest clinical trials and registries.
Full access: https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/CIR.0000000000001125
SPOTLIGHT: Compress and Shock Foundation
Their mission is to bring free and equitable access to CPR and AED education to all communities with a specific dedication to those communities most adversely affected by cardiac arrest due to race, ethnicity, primary language, or access to healthcare education.
Learn more: https://www.compressandshock.org/
Did you catch something in the news related to resuscitation recently that you would like to see in this digest? Want to spotlight an event or activity aimed at improving cardiac arrest outcomes?
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