[Evaluation of patients' knowledge regarding counsels provided in case of chest pain after an acute myocardial infarction]. / Evaluation des conseils assimilés par les patients sur l'attitude recommandée en cas de douleur thoracique au décours d'un infarctus aigu du myocarde. Conseils ou patient après un infarctus du myocarde.

INTRODUCTION: an early call to the department of urgent medical assistance--Center 15 (SAMU-centre 15) is associated to shortest delays of reperfusion in case of myocardial infarction. However, patients are not always aware of this. OBJECTIVE: to assess the assimilated counsels by patients after an acute myocardial infarction. METHODS: from January 1998 to June 2004, patients managed by SAMU 93 and having benefited from thrombolytic therapy prior to hospitalization and/or primary angioplasty for a ST+ acute coronary syndrome with a confirmation of acute myocardial infarction during their hospital stay were prospectively enrolled into this study. A questionnaire was administered by phone from december 2003 to july 2005, assessing the knowledge about the necessity to alert SAMU-center 15 in case of chest pain and availability of medical files data. RESULTS: among the 976 patients: 111 (11%) were lost during follow-up, 162 (19%) were deceased when phone contact and 119 (12%) could not be interrogated. Among the 584 (60%) remaining subjects interrogated with a median follow-up period of 985 days (413-1596), 290 (50%) patients answered they received counseling, including 156 (27%) for taking nitrates, 19 (29%) stated they know that they should call SAMU-center 15. Patients with a high level of education and those treated by thrombolytic therapy prior to hospitalization were better informed; 464 (79%) patients declared having a prescription, 392 (67%) a hospital report, 406 (69%) an electrocardiogram, 227 (39%) a CD with their coronary angiography, and 79(14%) their medical file. CONCLUSION: the level of knowledge regarding the recommended attitude in case of chest pain is poor. The availability of medical data was better. Arch Mal Cceur

Survey of out-of-hospital emergency intubations in the French prehospital medical system: a multicenter study.

STUDY OBJECTIVE: To determine the clinical characteristics of endotracheal intubation in the French emergency prehospital medical system and compare these data with those of other systems. METHODS: This study was performed in lle de France (Paris Region) in mobile ICUs staffed by physicians. This prospective, descriptive study involved completion of a questionnaire by the operator just after endotracheal intubation was performed. RESULTS: Six hundred eighty-five (99.1%) of 691 consecutive prehospital intubations were performed successfully in the field. The orotracheal route was used in 96.0%, and no surgical approaches such as cricothyroidotomy were used. Mechanical complications occurred in 84 patients, at a rate of 15.9% for nonarrest patients and 8.1% for arrest patients. A wide variety of sedation protocols were used. Difficult intubations (10.8%) were comparable in incidence to the number seen in US emergency departments, not US prehospital systems. By the same token, intubation success rates (99.1%) were comparable to US EDs and much higher than US prehospital results. CONCLUSION: The characteristics of French prehospital airway management differ significantly from those of other countries. These differences may be explained by differences in approach to prehospital management rather than differences of skill.

[Rapid sequence anesthetic induction via prehospital tracheal intubation]. / Induction anesthésique en séquence rapide pour l'intubation trachéale préhospitalière.

The choice of sedation for emergency intubation remains controversial. This lack of consensus has led to various sedation protocols used in French prehospital care setting. A review of data from the literature suggests that the association etomidate-suxamethonium is probable the best choice for rapid sequence intubations in the prehospital setting. Its benefits include protection against myocardial and cerebral ischaemia, decreased risk of pulmonary aspiration, and a stable haemodynamic profile. Randomized studies are needed to substantiate the advantages of the association etomidate-suxamethonium for rapid sequences intubation in the prehospital setting.

Optimization of glottic exposure during intubation of a patient lying supine on the ground.

Two methods of endotracheal intubation of patients lying on the ground were compared for ease and speed of intubation and minimization of complications in a crossover study of prehospital-oriented emergency physicians. Intubation of a mannequin was attempted by the physicians in either a left lateral decubitus (LLD) position or a kneeling (K) position, followed by the alternate position. The LLD position afforded more rapid intubation, better glottic visualization, and less dental trauma. Eighty-seven percent of physicians completely visualized the glottis in the LLD position, versus 33% of the K position group. Intubation times were 10.5 versus 14.6 seconds in the LLD and K positions, respectively (P < .001). The LLD position is a more effective position (in a mannequin model) than the K position for intubation of patients found lying on the ground, a frequent situation in prehospital care.

Benefit of active compression-decompression cardiopulmonary resuscitation as a prehospital advanced cardiac life support. A randomized multicenter study.

BACKGROUND: We compared short-term prognosis of active compression-decompression (ACD) and standard (STD) cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) in out-of-hospital cardiac arrests. METHODS AND RESULTS: We randomized advanced cardiac life support (ACLS) with ACD ACLS CPR on odd days and STD ACLS CPR on even days. We measured the rates of return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC), survival at 1 hour (H1), at 24 hours (H24), and at 1 month (D30): hospital discharge (HD); neurological outcome; and complications. Mean times from collapse to basic cardiac life support CPR was 9 minutes and from collapse to ACLS CPR was 21 minutes. Compared with the STD ACLS patients (n = 258), ACD ACLS patients (n = 254) had higher survival rates (ROSC, 44.9% versus 29.8%, P = .0004; H1, 36.6% versus 24.8%, P = .003; H24, 26% versus 13.6%, P = .002; HD without neurological impairment, 5.5% versus 1.9%, P = .03) and a trend for improvement in neurological outcome at D30 (Glasgow-Pittsburgh Outcome Categories = 1.6 +/- 0.8 versus 2.3 +/- 1.1. P = .09). Sternal dislodgements (2.9% versus 0.4%, P = .03) and hemoptysis (5.4% versus 1.3%, P = .01) were more frequent in the ACD ACLS group. CONCLUSIONS: Despite long time intervals, ACD significantly improved short-term survival rates in out-of-hospital cardiac arrests compared with STD CPR.