As we all know, rapid and effective resuscitation makes a huge difference to the chance of survival from a cardiac arrest.
If you’re going to pick a rhythm to have as the patient or as the Resuscitationist, then it’s going to be a shockable rhythm, so VF or pulseless VT as they hold the greatest chance of survival. You'll find an initial shockable rhythm in around 20% of cases & defibrillation alone may lead to a ROSC. So it’s absolutely imperative to get the immediate management spot on!
Whilst current practice is good, there are some aspects of care that we can improve on and make a real difference to outcomes in these patients, with those first on scene or at the bedside in a phenomenally important position to deliver life saving care.
In this episode we’ll be talking predominantly about refractory VF but the strategy will transfer to how we can also deal with refractory VT cardiac arrests.
We'll be running through all of the following;
Once again we’d love to hear any thoughts or feedback either on the website or via X @TheResusRoom!
Simon, Rob & James
Welcome back to February's papers of the month.
Syncope is a really common presentation to the Emergency Department and it can be complicated to tease out those with a concerning precipitant from the others with a more benign cause. The first paper gives us some context to the management of these undifferentiated syncopes and provides a barometer for how stringently ESC guidance on the topic is followed.
Next up we take a look a huge RCT of transfusion thresholds in patients presenting with a myocardial infarction. Should we be restrictive in our approach, saving a valuable resource, or is it validated to transfuse more liberally in terms of the patients outcome?
Finally we take a look at a paper looking to tease out the predictors of post intubation hypotension in those getting a prehospital anaesthetic following trauma, with some interesting associations and factors to looks out for.
Once again we’d love to hear any thoughts or feedback either on the website or via X @TheResusRoom!
Simon & Rob