Actividad y asistencia a la parada cardiorrespiratoria en un servicio extrahospitalario de emergencias durante la pandemia COVID-19 / Caseload and cardiopulmonary arrest management by an out-of-hospital emergency service during the COVID-19 pandemic

Objetivos. Conocer las consecuencias de la pandemia COVID-19 en la atención a la parada cardiorrespiratoria (PCR) extrahospitalaria con relación al inicio de las maniobras de resucitación cardiopulmonar (RCP) y su supervivencia. Valorar el impacto de la pandemia por COVID-19 en la actividad asistencial de un servicio de urgencias y emergencias extrahospitalarias en comparación con otros periodos sin enfermedad.Método. Estudio observacional prospectivo, basado en un registro continuo de PCR extrahospitalaria del SUMMA 112 de Madrid, durante el periodo del 1 de marzo al 30 de abril del 2020. Las variables se recogieron siguiendo las recomendaciones Utstein. Se utilizó el periodo de marzo-abril 2019 como control de comparación directa con el periodo de estudio y los periodos de enero-febrero de 2019 y de 2020 para conocer la variabilidad entre dichos años.Resultados. De las 313 PCR atendidas en marzo-abril de 2020, en 146 casos se realizó RCP avanzada. De los 87 pacientes catalogados COVID positivo, llegaron vivos al hospital 33. No se aplicaron maniobras de RCP avanzada en 167 ocasiones, identificando como causa más frecuente el tiempo de colapso excesivo. El 92,7% de las PCR sucedieron en domicilio. Comparado con otros periodos, hubo más llamadas al centro coordinador de urgencias en marzo-abril de 2020, si bien la movilización de recursos fue similar.Conclusiones. Durante la pandemia de COVID-19 hubo más mortalidad en la PCR extrahospitalaria, aumentando el porcentaje de PCR sin RCP avanzada, destacando como principal causa el tiempo de colapso excesivo. Sin embargo, aunque se incrementó significativamente la demanda telefónica, este servicio de emergencias extrahospitalarias no tuvo aumento en la movilización de los recursos móviles asistenciales. (AU)

Objective. To describe the effect of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on the initiation of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) in patients with out-of-hospital cardiopulmonary arrest. To compare the cardiopulmonary arrest caseload during the pandemic to the caseloads in other periods.Methods. Observational, prospective study based on the registry of out-of-hospital cardiopulmonary arrest emergencies the SUMMA112 ambulance service responded to between March 1 and April 30, 2020, in the Spanish autonomous community of Madrid. The registry is a Utstein-style database. The period of March–April 2019 was the control period for direct comparison with the 2020 study period and with the January–February periods of 2019 and 2020.Results. The responders undertook advanced CPR in 146 of the 313 cardiopulmonary arrest cases registered during March-April, 2020. Of the 87 patients with COVID-19–positive tests, 33 reached the hospital alive. Advanced CPR was not applied in 167 cases; the most frequent reason was prolonged circulatory collapse. Most cases (92.7%) occurred in the home. The emergency dispatchers received more calls in March and April of 2020, but they sent out a similar number of ambulances.Conclusions. Mortality was higher in cases of cardiopulmonary arrest during the COVID-19 pandemic. The percentage of cases with no application of advanced CPR rose; the main reason was the amount of time between collapse and first response. Even though the number of emergency calls increased significantly, the SUMMA112 service did not dispatch more ambulances. (AU)

Caseload and cardiopulmonary arrest management by an out-of-hospital emergency service during the COVID-19 pandemic. / Actividad y asistencia a la parada cardiorrespiratoria en un servicio extrahospitalario de emergencias durante la pandemia COVID-19.

OBJECTIVES: To describe the effect of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on the initiation of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) in patients with out-of-hospital cardiopulmonary arrest. To compare the cardiopulmonary arrest caseload during the pandemic to the caseloads in other periods. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Observational, prospective study based on the registry of out-of-hospital cardiopulmonary arrest emergencies the SUMMA112 ambulance service responded to between March 1 and April 30, 2020, in the Spanish autonomous community of Madrid. The registry is a Utstein-style database. The period of March-April 2019 was the control period for direct comparison with the 2020 study period and with the January-February periods of 2019 and 2020. RESULTS: The responders undertook advanced CPR in 146 of the 313 cardiopulmonary arrest cases registered during March-April, 2020. Of the 87 patients with COVID-19-positive tests, 33 reached the hospital alive. Advanced CPR was not applied in 167 cases; the most frequent reason was prolonged circulatory collapse. Most cases (92.7%) occurred in the home. The emergency dispatchers received more calls in March and April of 2020, but they sent out a similar number of ambulances. CONCLUSION: Mortality was higher in cases of cardiopulmonary arrest during the COVID-19 pandemic. The percentage of cases with no application of advanced CPR rose; the main reason was the amount of time between collapse and first response. Even though the number of emergency calls increased significantly, the SUMMA112 service did not dispatch more ambulances.

OBJETIVO: Conocer las consecuencias de la pandemia COVID-19 en la atención a la parada cardiorrespiratoria (PCR) extrahospitalaria con relación al inicio de las maniobras de resucitación cardiopulmonar (RCP) y su supervivencia. Valorar el impacto de la pandemia por COVID-19 en la actividad asistencial de un servicio de urgencias y emergencias extrahospitalarias en comparación con otros periodos sin enfermedad. METODO: Estudio observacional prospectivo, basado en un registro continuo de PCR extrahospitalaria del SUMMA 112 de Madrid, durante el periodo del 1 de marzo al 30 de abril del 2020. Las variables se recogieron siguiendo las recomendaciones Utstein. Se utilizó el periodo de marzo-abril 2019 como control de comparación directa con el periodo de estudio y los periodos de enero-febrero de 2019 y de 2020 para conocer la variabilidad entre dichos años. RESULTADOS: De las 313 PCR atendidas en marzo-abril de 2020, en 146 casos se realizó RCP avanzada. De los 87 pacientes catalogados COVID positivo, llegaron vivos al hospital 33. No se aplicaron maniobras de RCP avanzada en 167 ocasiones, identificando como causa más frecuente el tiempo de colapso excesivo. El 92,7% de las PCR sucedieron en domicilio. Comparado con otros periodos, hubo más llamadas al centro coordinador de urgencias en marzo-abril de 2020, si bien la movilización de recursos fue similar. CONCLUSIONES: Durante la pandemia de COVID-19 hubo más mortalidad en la PCR extrahospitalaria, aumentando el porcentaje de PCR sin RCP avanzada, estacando como principal causa el tiempo de colapso excesivo. Sin embargo, aunque se incrementó significativamente la demanda telefónica, este servicio de emergencias extrahospitalarias no tuvo aumento en la movilización de los recursos móviles asistenciales.

Uncontrolled donation programs after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. An estimation of potential donors.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the number of potential deceased organ donors from out-of- hospital cardiac arrest cases (OHCA) attended by public physician-led emergency medical services in Spain, based on data recorded in the nationwide Spanish OHCA Registry (OHSCAR). MATERIAL AND METHODS: We analysed OHSCAR data on deceased OHCA patients in Spain during 13 months (1/10/2013 to 31/10/2014). Variables included age, sex, estimated OHCA time, cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) start time and outcome. Inclusion criteria were: age 16-60 years, witnessed OHCA, no return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC) and time interval <15min between OHCA occurrence and CPR initiation. RESULTS: Of a total 8789 cases, 3290 met the age criteria; of these, CPR was not witnessed in 745 cases. Among the remaining 2545 patients, 141 were included in uncontrolled donation after cardiac death (uDCD) programs, 902 arrived at the hospital with ROSC, 64 arrived with ongoing CPR and 15 cases were lost to follow-up. Of the remaining 1423 without ROSC, CPR initiation time was not recorded in 454 cases and 398 did not meet the time criteria <15min between OHCA and CPR initiation. Finally, 571 met all the criteria and could have been potential donors. There were significant differences in the actual donors percentage from potential donors percentage between provinces with and without donor programs (141/322=43.8% versus 0/390=0%), but there were no differences in ROSC between the two types of provinces (418/1320=31.7% versus 652/1970=33.4%). CONCLUSIONS: Many potential donors are missed in current clinical practice. uDCD programs are few and underused even in a country with high rates of organ transplantation.