Analysis During Chest Compressions in Out-Of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest Patients, A Cross/Sectional study: The DEFI 2022 Study.

AIMS: During out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA), an automatic external defibrillator (AED) analyzes the cardiac rhythm every two minutes; however, 80% of refibrillations occur within the first minute post-shock. We have implemented an algorithm for Analyzing cardiac rhythm While performing chest Compression (AWC). When AWC detects a shockable rhythm, it shortens the time between analyses to one minute. We investigated the effect of AWC on cardiopulmonary resuscitation quality. METHOD: In this cross-sectional study, we compared patients treated in 2022 with AWC, to a historical cohort from 2017. Inclusion criteria were OHCA patients with a shockable rhythm at the first analysis. Primary endpoint was the chest compression fraction (CCF). Secondary endpoints were cardiac rhythm evolution and survival, including survival analysis of non-prespecified subgroups. RESULTS: In 2017 and 2022, 355 and 377 OHCAs met the inclusion criteria, from which we analyzed the 285 first consecutive cases in each cohort. CCF increased in 2022 compared to 2017 (77%[72-80] vs 72%[67-76]; P<0.001) and VF recurrences were shocked more promptly (53s[32-69] vs 117s[90-132]). Survival did not differ between 2017 and 2022 (adjusted hazard-ratio 0.96[95% CI, 0.78-1.18]), but was higher in 2022 within the sub-group of OHCAs that occurred in a public place and within a short time from call to AED switch-on (adjusted hazard ratio 0.85[0.76-0.96]). CONCLUSIONS: OHCA patients treated with AWC had higher CCF, shorter time spent in ventricular fibrillation, but no survival difference, except for OHCA that occurred in public places with short intervention time.

FIRECARE: An Evidence-Based Prevention Program to Reduce Burnout among Prehospital Caregivers: Benefits of a Combined Mindfulness, Heart Coherence Training, and Positive Psychology Intervention.

BACKGROUND: Burnout among emergency health care professionals is well-described, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. Prevention interventions, such as mindfulness, focus on the management of stress. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effects of the FIRECARE program (a mindfulness intervention, supplemented by heart coherence training and positive psychology workshops) on burnout, secondary stress, compassion fatigue, and mindfulness among advanced life support ambulance staff of the Paris Fire Brigade. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We used a non-randomized, two-group quasi-experimental study design with a waitlist control and before-and-after measurements in each group. The intervention consisted of six, once-weekly, 2.5-h sessions that included individual daily meditation and cardiac coherence practice. The study compared intervention and waitlist control groups, and investigated baseline, post-program, and 3-month follow-up change on burnout (measuring using the ProQOL-5 scale) and mindfulness (measuring using the FMI scores). Baseline burnout (measured using the ProQOL-5) was evaluated and used in the analysis. RESULTS: Seventy-four 74 participants volunteered to participate; 66 were included in the final analysis. Of these, 60% were classified as suffering from moderate burnout, the 'burnout cluster'. A comparison of intervention and waitlist control groups found a decrease in the burnout score in the burnout cluster (p = 0.0003; partial eta squared = 0.18). However, while secondary stress fell among the burnout cluster, it was only for participants in the intervention group; scores increased for those in the waitlist group (p = 0.003; partial eta squared = 0.12). The pre-post-intervention analysis of both groups also showed that burnout fell in the burnout cluster (p = 0.006; partial eta squared = 0.11). At 3-month follow-up, the burnout score was significantly reduced in the intervention group (p = 0.02; partial eta squared = 0.07), and both the acceptance (p = 0.007) and mindfulness scores (p = 0.05; partial eta squared = 0.05) were increased in the baseline burnout cluster. CONCLUSION: FIRECARE may be a useful approach to preventing and reducing burnout among prehospital caregivers.

Deployment of the French Civil Protection Field Hospital (ESCRIM) in Gölbasi, Turkey after the February 2023 Earthquake: Lessons Learned.

Following the two earthquakes that occurred in Turkey on February 6, 2023 with magnitudes of 7.8 and 7.5, causing over 50,000 deaths and 100,000 injuries, France proposed to deploy, via the European Union Civil Protection Mechanism (EUCPM), the French Civil Protection Field Hospital (ESCRIM [Élément de Sécurité Civile Rapide d'Intervention Médicale]): the French World Health Organization (WHO)-classified Emergency Medical Team (EMT) Level 2 (EMT2).After the acceptance from Turkey on February 8, a disaster assessment team (DAT) was sent on February 10, 2023. It was decided, with local health authorities (LHA), to set up the field hospital in Gölbasi, Adiyaman Province where the State Hospital was closed due to a structural risk.Arriving in Gölbasi on February 13 at 2:00am in -12°C (10°F) temperatures, the detachment had no choice but to begin setting up the base of operation (BoO). At dawn, the cold was so intense that one doctor suffered from frostbite. Once the BoO was installed, the team set up the hospital tents. From 11:00am, the sun melted the snow and the ground became very muddy. The objective being to open the hospital as soon as possible, installation of the hospital continued, and it opened on February 14 at 12:00pm/noon, less than 36 hours after on-site arrival.This article describes the mechanics of setting up an EMT-2 in a cold climate, the many problems encountered, and the solutions imagined and proposed.

Assessment of emergency physicians' performance in identifying shockable rhythm in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest: an observational simulation study.

BACKGROUND: Emergency physicians can use a manual or an automated defibrillator to provide defibrillation of patients who had out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA). Performance of emergency physicians in identifying shockable rhythm with a manual defibrillator has been poorly explored whereas that of automated defibrillators is well known (sensitivity 0.91-1.00, specificity 0.96-0.99). We conducted this study to estimate the sensitivity/specificity and speed of shock/no-shock decision-making by prehospital emergency physicians for shockable or non-shockable rhythm, and their preference for manual versus automated defibrillation. METHODS: We developed a web application that simulates a manual defibrillator (https://simul-shock.firebaseapp.com/). In 2019, all (262) emergency physicians of six French emergency medical services were invited to participate in a study in which 60 ECG rhythms from real OHCA recordings were successively presented to the physicians for determination of whether they would or would not administer a shock. Time to decision was recorded. Answers were compared with a gold standard (concordant answers of three experts). We report sensitivity for shockable rhythms (decision to shock) and specificity for non-shockable rhythms (decision not to shock). Physicians were also asked whether they preferred manual or automated defibrillation. RESULTS: Among 215 respondents, we were able to analyse results for 190 physicians. 57% of emergency physicians preferred manual defibrillation. Median (IQR) sensitivity for a shock delivery for shockable rhythm was 0.91 (0.81-1.00); median specificity for no-shock delivery for non-shockable rhythms was 0.91 (0.80-0.96). More precisely, sensitivities for shock delivery for ventricular tachycardia (VT) and coarse ventricular fibrillation (VF) were both 1.0 (1.0-1.0); sensitivity for fine VF was 0.6 (0.2-1). Specificity for not shocking a pulseless electrical activity (PEA) was 0.83 (0.72-0.86), and for asystole, specificity was 0.93 (0.86-1). Median speed of decision-making (in seconds) were: VT 2.0 (1.6-2.7), coarse VF 2.1 (1.7-2.9), asystole 2.4 (1.8-3.5), PEA 2.8 (2.0-4.2) and fine VF 2.8 (2.1-4.3). CONCLUSIONS: Global sensitivity and specificity were comparable with published automated external defibrillator studies. Shockable rhythms with the best clinical prognoses (VT and coarse VF) were very rapidly recognised with very good sensitivity. The decision-making for fine VF or asystole and PEA was less accurate.

Effectiveness of Short Training in Resuscitative Endovascular Balloon Occlusion of the Aorta (REBOA) by Emergency Physicians: The Applied Course for Internal Aortic Clamping on Field Mission.

BACKGROUND: Resuscitative endovascular balloon occlusion of the aorta (REBOA) is a technique that uses internal clamping of the aorta to control abdominal, pelvic, or junctional bleeding. We created a course to train military physicians in both civilian prehospital use and battlefield use. To determine the effectiveness of this training, we conducted REBOA training for French military emergency physicians. METHODS: We trained 15 military physicians, organizing the training as follows: a half-day of theoretical training, a half-day of training on mannequins, a half-day on human corpses, and a half-day on a living pig. The primary endpoint was the success rate after training. We defined success as the balloon being inflated in zone 1 of a PryTime mannequin. The secondary endpoints were the progression of each trainee during the training, the difference between the median completion duration before and after training, the median post-training duration, and the median duration for the placement of the sheath introducer before and after training. RESULTS: Fourteen of the physicians (93%) correctly placed the balloon in the mannequin at the end of the training period. During the training, the success rate increased from 73% to 93% (p = .33). The median time for REBOA after training was only 222 seconds (interquartile range [IQR] 194-278), significantly faster than before training (330 seconds, IQR 260-360.5; p = .0033). We also found significantly faster sheath introducer placement (148 seconds, IQR 126-203 versus 145 seconds, IQR 115.5 - 192.5; p = .426). CONCLUSION: The training can be performed successfully and paves the way for the use of REBOA by emergency physicians in austere conditions.

Guidelines for the acute care of severe limb trauma patients.

GOAL: To provide healthcare professionals with comprehensive multidisciplinary expert recommendations for the acute care of severe limb trauma patients, both during the prehospital phase and after admission to a Trauma Centre. DESIGN: A consensus committee of 21 experts was formed. A formal conflict-of-interest (COI) policy was developed at the onset of the process and enforced throughout. The entire guidelines process was conducted independently of any industrial funding (i.e., pharmaceutical, medical devices). The authors were advised to follow the rules of the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE®) system to guide assessment of the quality of evidence. The potential drawbacks of making strong recommendations in the presence of low-quality evidence were emphasised. Few recommendations remained non-graded. METHODS: The committee addressed eleven questions relevant to the patient suffering severe limb trauma: 1) What are the key findings derived from medical history and clinical examination which lead to the patient's prompt referral to a Level 1 or Level 2 Trauma Centre? 2) What are the medical devices that must be implemented in the prehospital setting to reduce blood loss? 3) Which are the clinical findings prompting the performance of injected X-ray examinations? 4) What are the ideal timing and modalities for performing fracture fixation? 5) What are the clinical and operative findings which steer the surgical approach in case of vascular compromise and/or major musculoskeletal attrition? 6) How to best prevent infection? 7) How to best prevent thromboembolic complications? 8) What is the best strategy to precociously detect and treat limb compartment syndrome? 9) How to best and precociously detect post-traumatic rhabdomyolysis and prevent rhabdomyolysis-induced acute kidney injury? 10) What is the best strategy to reduce the incidence of fat emboli syndrome and post-traumatic systemic inflammatory response? 11) What is the best therapeutic strategy to treat acute trauma-induced pain? Every question was formulated in a PICO (Patient Intervention Comparison Outcome) format and the evidence profiles were produced. The literature review and recommendations were made according to the GRADE® methodology. RESULTS: The experts' synthesis work and the application of the GRADE method resulted in 19 recommendations. Among the formalised recommendations, 4 had a high level of evidence (GRADE 1+/-) and 12 had a low level of evidence (GRADE 2+/-). For 3 recommendations, the GRADE method could not be applied, resulting in an expert advice. After two rounds of scoring and one amendment, strong agreement was reached on all the recommendations. CONCLUSIONS: There was significant agreement among experts on strong recommendations to improve practices for severe limb trauma patients.

Logistical Challenge With Prehospital Use of High-Flow Nasal Oxygen Therapy in COVID-19-Induced Respiratory Distress: A Case Report.

Background Although commonly used inside hospitals, no previous case report has been published on high-flow nasal oxygen (HFNO) therapy in an adult in the prehospital setting. Case Report A 46-year-old nonsmoking man presented with a cough and fever. He deteriorated suddenly 5 days later. When the basic life support team arrived, his peripheral oxygen saturation (SpO2) in ambient air was 56% and respiratory rate was 46 breaths/min. The man was weak with thoracoabdominal asynchrony. An emergency medical team with a physician was dispatched. As France was still under lockdown for the SARS-CoV-2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2) pandemic, COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) was suspected. In spite of 15 L/min of oxygen delivered with a nonrebreathing mask, the patient's SpO2 tended to drop below 90% at the slightest effort and during transport from home to the ambulance. It was therefore decided to start HFNO therapy. The patient was transferred to an intensive care unit, where HFNO was continued. Why Should an Emergency Physician Be Aware of This? As the trend in emergency medical services may move toward prehospital HFNO, this case report is an opportunity to question the feasibility of HFNO therapy in the prehospital setting.

Automatic external defibrillator provided by unmanned aerial vehicle (drone) in Greater Paris: A real world-based simulation.

AIM: To reduce the delay in defibrillation of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) patients, recent publications have shown that drones equipped with an automatic external defibrillator (AED) appear to be effective in sparsely populated areas. To study the effectiveness of AED-drones in high-density urban areas, we developed an algorithm based on emergency dispatch parameters for the rate and detection speed of cardiac arrests and technical and meteorological parameters. METHODS: We ran a numerical simulation to compare the actual time required by the Basic Life Support team (BLSt) for OHCA patients in Greater Paris in 2017 to the time required by an AED-drone. Endpoints were the proportion of patients with "AED-drone first" and the defibrillation time gained. We built an open-source website (https://airborne-aed.org/) to allow modelling by modifying one or more parameters and to help other teams model their own OHCA data. RESULTS: Of 3014 OHCA patients, 72.2 ±â€¯0.7% were in the "no drone flight" group, 25.8 ±â€¯0.2% in the "AED-drone first" group, and 2.1 ±â€¯0.2% in the "BLSt-drone first" group. When a drone flight was authorized, it arrived an average 190 s before BLSt in 93% of cases. The possibility of flying the drone during the aeronautical night improved the results of the "AED-drone first" group the most (+60%). CONCLUSIONS: In our very high-density urban model, at most 26% of OHCA patients received an AED from an AED-drone before BLSt. The flexible parameters of our website model allows evaluation of the impact of each choice and concrete implementation of the AED-drone.

Prehospital management of acute respiratory distress in suspected COVID-19 patients.

BACKGROUND: In December 2019, coronavirus disease (COVID-19) emerged in China and became a world-wide pandemic in March 2020. Emergency services and intensive care units (ICUs) were faced with a novel disease with unknown clinical characteristics and presentations. Acute respiratory distress (ARD) was often the chief complaint for an EMS call. This retrospective study evaluated prehospital ARD management and identified factors associated with the need of prehospital mechanical ventilation (PMV) for suspected COVID-19 patients. METHODS: We included 256 consecutive patients with suspected COVID-19-related ARD that received prehospital care from a Paris Fire Brigade BLS or ALS team, from March 08 to April 18, 2020. We performed multivariate regression to identify factors predisposing to PMV. RESULTS: Of 256 patients (mean age 60 ± 18 years; 82 (32%) males), 77 (30%) had previous hypertension, 31 (12%) were obese, and 49 (19%) had diabetes mellitus. Nineteen patients (7%) required PMV. Logistic regression observed that a low initial pulse oximetry was associated with prehospital PMV (ORa = 0.86, 95%CI: 0.73-0.92; p = 0.004). CONCLUSIONS: This study showed that pulse oximetry might be a valuable marker for rapidly determining suspected COVID-19-patients requiring prehospital mechanical ventilation. Nevertheless, the impact of prehospital mechanical ventilation on COVID-19 patients outcome require further investigations.

Hypoxemia Index Associated with Prehospital Intubation in COVID-19 Patients.

BACKGROUND: There exists a need for prognostic tools for the early identification of COVID-19 patients requiring prehospital intubation. Here we investigated the association between a prehospital Hypoxemia Index (HI) and the need for intubation among COVID-19 patients in the prehospital setting. METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed COVID-19 patients initially cared for by a Paris Fire Brigade advanced life support (ALS) team in the prehospital setting between 8th March and 18th April of 2020. We assessed the association between HI and prehospital intubation using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis and logistic regression model analysis after propensity score matching. Results are expressed as odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI). RESULTS: We analyzed 300 consecutive COVID-19 patients (166 males (55%); mean age, 64 ± 18 years). Among these patients, 45 (15%) were deceased on the scene, 34 (11%) had an active care restriction, and 18 (6%) were intubated in the prehospital setting. The mean HI value was 3.4 ± 1.9. HI was significantly associated with prehospital intubation (OR, 0.24; 95% CI: 0.12-0.41, p < 10-3) with a corresponding area under curve (AUC) of 0.91 (95% CI: 0.85-0.98). HI significantly differed between patients with and without prehospital intubation (1.0 ± 1.0 vs. 3.6 ± 1.8, respectively; p < 10-3). ROC curve analysis defined the optimal HI threshold as 1.3. Bivariate analysis revealed that HI <1.3 was significantly, positively associated with prehospital intubation (OR, 38.38; 95% CI: 11.57-146.54; p < 10-3). Multivariate logistic regression analysis demonstrated that prehospital intubation was significantly associated with HI (adjusted odds ratio (ORa), 0.20; 95% CI: 0.06-0.45; p < 10-3) and HI <3 (ORa, 51.08; 95% CI: 7.83-645.06; p < 10-3). After adjustment for confounders, the ORa between HI <1.3 and prehospital intubation was 3.6 (95% CI: 1.95-5.08; p < 10-3). CONCLUSION: An HI of <1.3 was associated with a 3-fold increase in prehospital intubation among COVID-19 patients. HI may be a useful tool to facilitate decision-making regarding prehospital intubation of COVID-19 patients initially cared for by a Paris Fire Brigade ALS team. Further prospective studies are needed to confirm these preliminary results.

Insufficient quality of public automated external defibrillator recordings in the greater Paris area, a descriptive study.

BACKGROUND: Western countries report a significant increase in the proportion of patients who experience out-of-hospital cardiac arrests (OHCAs) and benefit from a public automated external defibrillator (pAED) before the arrival of rescue teams. However, recordings of devices recovered after resuscitation are of variable quality. Analysis of these data may inform decisions of whether to implement an internal defibrillator for survivors, and provide useful information about the performance of pAED algorithms and the actions of bystanders. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the quality of the information recorded by pAEDs during OHCAs in the Paris area. METHODS: pAED files used for some of the 8629 OHCAs that occurred in the greater Paris area between 1 January 2017 and 31 April 2019 on the day of the arrest were collected. The presence and accuracy of 23 factors required to interpret the recording was noted, including readability of the ECG, the presence of an impedance curve and the accuracy of the date and time. The recordings were analysed to assess the diagnostic and therapeutic performance of the pAEDs used. RESULTS: A total of 258 patients with an OHCA received assistance from a pAED, and 182 recordings were recovered. The pAEDs were made by 12 different manufacturers. Data extraction required eight different transmission modes and 16 software programmes; recordings were of highly heterogeneous quality. Two per cent of the recordings were of such poor quality that they were not interpretable. Among the 98% remaining, only 43% included a thoracic impedance curve, 34% the intensity of the shocks delivered and 8% the patient name. The date and time were accurate in 68% and 48% of recordings, respectively. The pAEDs had 87.6% (95% CI 83.7% to 91.0%) sensitivity and 99.5% (99.5% to 99.5%) specificity for defibrillating shockable rhythms (positive predictive value 98.2% (96.4% to 99.0%), negative predictive value 96.4% (95.3% to 96.8%)). The absence of important variables prevented the analysis of approximately half of the inappropriate decisions made by pAEDs. CONCLUSION: Collection of pAED recordings is a major challenge. Their analysis is compromised by heterogeneity and poor quality (incomplete maintenance records, patient details and logs). AED recordings are currently the most relevant resource to track pAED performance and bystander practices. The quality of these recordings needs to improve.

Contributing factors to early recurrence of ventricular fibrillation during out-of-hospital cardiac arrest: An observational retrospective study.

INTRODUCTION: In out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA), external electric shock (EES) is recommended for treating ventricular fibrillation (VF). Refibrillation commonly occurs within one minute post-shock. We aimed to investigate refibrillation times and identifyclinical and electrical factors associated with them. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This retrospective observational study, based on the Paris Fire Brigade database, included non-traumatic OHCA over 18 years of age who received at least one shock with an AED from Basic Life Support (BLS) rescuers and from which we randomly selected a sample to measure the refibrillation-times. Without prior reference to it in the literature, we classified the refibrillation-time into two modalities according to whether it was above or below the median-time. We performed multiple regression analysis to assess associations between refibrillation-time and potential explanatory factors. RESULTS: Among 13,181 patients who experienced OHCA from January 2010 to January 2014, we analysed AED data from 215 patients (590 shocks), 82.1% males, median age 61[IQR: 52-75] years. Most of them occurred at home (57%), were witnessed (87%), and were shockable (88.8%). A median of 5[4-7] EES/patients were delivered. The median-time from shock to refibrillation was 25[13-44] s. Multivariate analysis showed that a shorter post-shock hands-off time favoured earlier refibrillation (p = 0.034), as well as older age (p = 0.002) (Fig. 2, Supplementary table). CONCLUSION: In non-traumatic OHCA, most refibrillations occurred within 45-s post-shock. Age and post-shock hands-off time were the two contributing factors to time to refibrillation.

Mobile Smartphone Technology Is Associated With Out-of-hospital Cardiac Arrest Survival Improvement: The First Year "Greater Paris Fire Brigade" Experience.

BACKGROUND: Out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) remains associated with very high mortality. Accelerating the initiation of efficient cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is widely perceived as key to improving outcomes. The main goal was to determine whether identification and activation of nearby first responders through a smartphone application named Staying Alive (SA) can improve survival following OHCA in a large urban area (Paris). METHODS: We conducted a nonrandomized cohort study of all adults with OHCA managed by the Greater Paris Fire Brigade during 2018, irrespective of mobile application usage. We compared survival data in cases where SA did or did not lead to the activation of nearby first responders. During dispatch, calls for OHCA were managed with or without SA. The intervention group included all cases where nearby first responders were successfully identified by SA and actively contributed to CPR. The control group included all other cases. We compared survival at hospital discharge between the intervention and control groups. We analyzed patient data, CPR metrics, and first responders' characteristics. RESULTS: Approximately 4,107 OHCA cases were recorded in 2018. Among those, 320 patients were in the control group, whereas 46 patients, in the intervention group, received first responder-initiated CPR. After adjustment for confounders, survival at hospital discharge was significantly improved for patients in the intervention group (35% vs. 16%, adjusted odds ratio = 5.9, 95% confidence interval = 2.1 to 16.5, p < 0.001). All CPR metrics were improved in the intervention group. CONCLUSIONS: We report that mobile smartphone technology was associated with OHCA survival through accelerated initiation of efficient CPR by first responders in a large urban area.

Improving emergency call detection of Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrests in the Greater Paris area: Efficiency of a global system with a new method of detection.

AIM: The detection of cardiac arrests by dispatchers allows telephone-assisted cardiopulmonary resuscitation (t-CPR) and improves Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest (OHCA) survival. To enhance the OHCA detection rate, in 2012, the Paris Fire Brigade dispatch center created an original technique called "Hand On Belly" (HoB). The new algorithm that resulted has become a central point in a broader program for dispatch-assisted cardiac arrests. METHODS: This is a repeated cross-sectional study with retrospective data of four 15-day call samples recorded from 2012 to 2018. We included all calls from OHCAs cared for by Basic Life Support (BLS) teams and excluded calls where the dispatcher was not in contact directly with a witness. The primary endpoint was the successful detection of an OHCA by the dispatcher; the secondary endpoints were successful t-CPR and measurements of the different time intervals related to the call. Logistic regressions were performed to assess parameters associated with detecting OHCAs and initiating t-CPR. RESULTS: From 2012 to 2018, among the detectable OCHAs, the proportion correctly identified increased from 54% to 93%; the rate of t-CPRs from 51% to 84%. OHCA detection and t-CPR initiation were both associated with HoB breathing assessments (adjustedOR: 89, 95%CI: 31-299, and adjustedOR: 11.2, 95%CI: 1.4-149, respectively). Over the study period, the times to answering calls and the time to sending BLS teams were shorter than those recommended by international guidelines; however, the times to OHCA recognition and starting t-CPR delivery were longer. CONCLUSIONS: The HoB effectively facilitated OHCA detection in our system, which has achieved very high performance levels.

Five years of prolonged field care: prehospital challenges during recent French military operations.

BACKGROUND: French military operations in the Sahel conducted since 2013 over more than 5 million square kilometers have challenged the French Military Health Service with specific problems in prolonged field care. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: To describe these challenges, we retrospectively analyzed the prehospital data from the first 5 years of these operations within a delimited area. RESULTS: One hundred eighty-three servicemen of different nationalities were evacuated, mainly as a result of explosions (73.2%) or gunshots (21.9%). Their mean number evacuation was 2.2 (minimum, 1; maximum, 8) per medical evacuation with a direct evacuation from the field to a Role 2 medical treatment facility (MTF) for 62% of them. For the highest-priority casualties (N = 46), the median time [interquartile range] from injury to a Role 2 MTF was 130 minutes [70 minutes to 252 minutes], exceeding 120 minutes in 57% of cases and 240 minutes in 26%. The most frequent out-of-hospital medical interventions were external hemostasis, airway and hemopneumothorax management, hypotensive resuscitation, analgesia, immobilization, and antibiotic administration. Prehospital transfusion (RBCs and/or lyophilized plasma) was started three times in the field, two times during helicopter medical evacuation, and five times in tactical fixed wing medical aircraft. Lyophilized plasma was confirmed to be particularly suitable in these settings. One of the specific issues involved in lengthy prehospital time was the importance to reassess and convert tourniquets prior to Role 2 MTF admission. CONCLUSION: Main challenges identified include reducing evacuation times as much as possible, preserving ground deployment of sufficiently trained medics and medical teams, optimization of transfusion strategies, and strengthening specific prolonged field care equipment and training.