https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa1806842
A Randomized Trial of Epinephrine in Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest
Gavin D. Perkins, M.D., Chen Ji, Ph.D., Charles D. Deakin, M.D.,et al.
for the PARAMEDIC2 Collaborators*
Abstract
Background
Concern about the use of epinephrine as a...
https://www.eventscribe.com/2018/SAEM/agenda.asp?h=Plenary&BCFO=PL
Results: Of 3,005 enrolled patients, 1,506 were assigned to initial LT and 1,499 to initial ETI. Patient characteristics were similar between treatment arms. Seventy-two hour survival was significantly higher for LT than ETI...
The only agent i'd consider is ketamine. But, by and large I agree with jwk. If the patient is in cardiac arrest, there are much bigger fish to fry. They are unlikely getting enough perfusion to have any recall. Even in the case of survival, the anoxia that occured prior to CPR is likely...
As a EM physician and former paramedic, I say if 12 lead EKG is not STEMI or grossly ischemic, or exhibiting an arrhythmia, then triage to BLS (if OK in your system, send along a copy of the 12 lead with BLS).
Treating this as ALS is a waste of resources and everyone's time, even in an...
As other have said, it will be tough. There are plenty of people in EMS who have been arrested or have had addictions, etc. It sounds like you were in a rough spot for a long time. Resisting arrest, theft, and simple assault could maybe be explained away if it was just one time, but with...
I’m an EM doc and I wouldn’t do a pericardialcentesis except in the most dire situation (cardiac arrest or peri-arrest). I wouldn’t want a paramedic doing it out side of arrest (or at all, actually). I have had patients with large pericardial effusion with echo evidence of tamponade, but...
ETI is associated with harm or equivocal outcomes. The best study showing benefit was the one out of Australia that barely reached statistical significance. There have been a few retrospective studies showing benefit (one out of King Co.), but they have their drawbacks. Generally, most...
There's another side where a paramedic "over treats" and causes a poor outcome or adverse event when a expedient ride would have been more than enough. I think one could argue that in an all-ALS system, there are a greater proportion of patients harmed by paramedics than in tiered systems. And...
I think I've only once ever ordered an opiate for a migraine and it was a few hours in to their treatment after giving reglan, toradol, benadryl, fluids, and compazine. My experience is that reglan is a the best first line medication. Honestly, I do not think EMS should get into the habit of...
There are few studies that look at tiered systems and the ones that exist have many limitations. I don't have time to try and dig them up. www.pubmed.com is the place to start digging. I think what you are looking for doesn't actually exist.
My personal thoughts on mechanical CPR is that its best utility is freeing hands for other tasks or for return to usual duty of personnel who would other wise be doing compressions. Its best use is NOT for improving survival.
Prehosp Emerg Care. 2018 Jan 18:1-7. doi...
Some valid points brought up (though there seems to be a weird tendency among some here to assume that the authors didn't think of biases associated with the study design, results, etc. and somehow attempt to control for such biases or acknowledge such.) These studies ARE limited by design, and...
No definitive answers as these are retrospectives analyses, but these articles raise questions that should have been answered before the movement toward "IO first" in cardiac arrest that many services have adopted.
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Intraosseous Vascular Access Is Associated With Lower Survival and...