Effect of age on prehospital cardiac resuscitation outcome.

To compare resuscitation outcomes in elderly and younger prehospital cardiac arrest victims, we used a retrospective case series over 5 years in rural advanced life support (ALS) units and a University hospital base station. Participants included 563 adult field resuscitations. Excluded were patients with noncardiac etiologies, those less than 30 years old, and those with unknown initial rhythms. Patients were grouped by age. Return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC) and survival to hospital discharge were compared by Yates' chi-square test. ALS treatment of cardiac arrest was by regional protocols and on-line physician direction. Sixty percent (320/532) of patients were over 65 years old. The proportion with initial rhythm ventricular fibrillation (VF) was 50% in the elderly and 48% in younger patients. ROSC was achieved in 18% of elderly and 16% of younger patients; survival was 4% among the elderly and 5% for younger patients. The oldest survivor was 87 years old. Most survivors were discharged, in good Cerebral Performance Categories. There was no difference in outcome by age group when initial cardiac rhythm was considered. Early cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and ALS and initial rhythm VF were associated with the best resuscitation success. Age has less effect on resuscitation success than other well-known factors such as early CPR and ALS. Advanced age alone should probably not deter resuscitation attempts.

On-line medical direction: a prospective study.

OBJECTIVES: To determine the frequency with which physician, on-line medical direction (OLMD) [direct medical control] of prehospital care results in orders, to describe the nature of these orders, and to measure OLMD time intervals. METHODS: Blinded, prospective study. SETTING: A university hospital base-station resource center. PARTICIPANTS: Ten emergency physicians, 50 advanced life support providers. INTERVENTIONS: Prehospital treatment was directed by both standing orders and OLMD physician orders. Independent observers recorded event times and the characteristics of OLMD. RESULTS: Physician orders were given in 47 (19%) of the 245 study cases, and covered a variety of interventions, including many already authorized by standing orders. Mean OLMD radio time was four minutes (245 +/- 216 seconds [sec]), and time from beginning of OLMD to hospital arrival averaged 12 minutes (718 +/- 439 sec). Mean transport time in this system was 13 minutes. CONCLUSION: Despite detailed standing orders, OLMD results in orders for clinical interventions in 19% of cases. On-line medical direction requires about four minutes of physician time per call. This constituted about one-third of the potential field treatment time interval in this system. Thus, OLMD appears to play an important role in providing quality prehospital care.

Safety of prehospital nitroglycerin.

STUDY OBJECTIVE: To define changes in vital signs and cardiac rhythm in prehospital patients given sublingual nitroglycerin. DESIGN: A five-month prospective observational study with nitroglycerin administration as the independent variable. SETTING: Five independent advanced life support services. TYPE OF PARTICIPANT: Three hundred prehospital patients who were given nitroglycerin by advanced life support personnel for presumed myocardial ischemia or congestive heart failure; excluded were those without repeat vital signs or ECG monitoring and those given additional medications. INTERVENTION: Nitroglycerin was administered by regional emergency medical services protocols or by the order of an on-line medical command physician. RESULTS: Four study patients (1.3%) had adverse effects: One became asystolic and apneic for two minutes, two experienced profound bradycardia with hypotension, and one became hypotensive while tachycardic. All recovered. The 95% confidence interval for adverse effects was 0.5% to 3.4%. Mean fall in systolic blood pressure for the other 296 patients was 14 mm Hg for one dose (confidence interval, 11 to 16 mm Hg) and 8 mm Hg (confidence interval, 2 to 13 mm Hg) for a second dose. Heart rate changed minimally with nitroglycerin administration. The blood pressure drop was linearly correlated with initial systolic pressure (r = -.44; P < .001) but not correlated with number of prior doses of nitroglycerin, initial heart rate, advanced life support time interval, age, or sex. CONCLUSION: Nitroglycerin seems to be a relatively safe advanced life support drug; however, a few patients experience serious adverse effects. Most of the adverse effects we observed were bradycardic-hypotensive reactions, which appeared to be unpredictable by pretreatment characteristics. Emergency personnel should have an increased awareness of this danger when considering the use of prehospital nitroglycerin.

Comparison of two systems for quality assurance of prehospital advanced life support services.

INTRODUCTION: The need for quality assurance (QA) systems for review of prehospital advanced life support (ALS) care has long been recognized. However, there only have been limited published studies on the operation and cost of QA systems for prehospital care. A number of different systems currently are in use, and the relative effectiveness of different QA systems has not been well determined. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to compare the personnel work-time and costs of two different systems of QA for prehospital ALS services, and thereby determine which type of system was more cost-effective in the generation of QA reports. METHODS: The quality assurance program (System 1) for three independent ALS services in a rural/suburban area and the QA program (System 2) for a nearby urban ALS service were compared. Data recorded included the training level and number of hours per year devoted exclusively to QA activities by different personnel. The annual costs for other aspects of the QA systems and apportioned salary costs for time spent on QA work were recorded. RESULTS: System 1, a computer-based system, utilized 1,116 hours per year of personnel time and required [US]$17,662 in total costs per year (average cost per run reviewed of $4.38). System 2 (a manual system) utilized 569 hours per year of personnel time and had an annual cost of [US]$8,361 (or $2.15 per run reviewed). System 1 generated 852 reports per year (21% of runs) about non-compliance with protocols or charting deficiencies. System 2 generated 284 reports per year (7.3% of runs) for similar events. CONCLUSIONS: Either a computer-based or "manual" system for QA of prehospital ALS services can be utilized. A computer-based system requires more personnel time and is more expensive, but generates more reports per year than does the manual system. A computer-based system more readily can retrieve run report data for further review.

When is air medical service faster than ground transportation?

The purpose of this study was to mathematically define a distance or travel-time interval in which air medical evacuation would benefit the patient more than ground transport. The authors derived mathematical formulas from known variables (ground travel, extrication and rendezvous times) and fixed averages (on-scene time, lift-off time, and speeds) and used those formulas to test actual flights for appropriateness. The formulas were: [formula: see text] where Y = ground travel time; R = rendezvous time; Z = extrication time; D = distance to scene (km); and X = air travel time. The formulas provide a guide to prospectively determine the legitimacy of air medical transport. They can also be used retrospectively as a guide for quality assurance purposes. During this study of 123 consecutive scene flights, helicopter benefitted all the entrapped patients but only one-third of non-entrapped patients. Of 44 flights from areas with known ground times, helicopter transport benefitted 14 of 16 entrapped, five of 16 non-entrapped, but only three of 17 rendezvous.