Prehospital Emergency Care最新文献

Objectives: Use of supraglottic airways by emergency medical services (EMS) clinicians has increased for patients of all ages. However, data are limited on real-world use in the prehospital setting, including success rates, complications, and paramedic experience. The objective of this study was to determine frequency of successful i-gel^® insertion and associated complications, and to describe paramedic perception of i-gel^® use.

Methods: This was a prospective study of i-gel^® use in adult patients at four fire-based EMS Provider Agencies in Los Angeles (LA) County from June to September 2021. All paramedics received asynchronous and hands-on training prior to implementation. The i-gel^® was indicated for adult patients in respiratory and/or cardiac arrest of any etiology, as directed by LA County protocols. Patients were included if a paramedic attempted i-gel^® placement at any point. After transition of care, paramedics completed a web-based questionnaire and contacted an on-call EMS physician investigator to discuss the case. Further data were abstracted from the EMS electronic patient care record. The primary outcome was successful placement of i-gel^® based on adequate ventilation post insertion confirmed with capnography. Secondary outcomes were frequency of complications and paramedic perceived ease of placement and of ventilation with i-gel^® measured on a 5-point Likert scale. Descriptive statistics were reported.

Results: Of the 102 adult patients, 55 (54%) were female and the median age was 69 years (IQR 53-79). The majority 91 (89%) of the patients had a paramedic impression of non-traumatic cardiac arrest. Placement was successful in 90 (88%) patients overall with 85 (83%) i-gel^® insertions successful on the first attempt. Complications included: 28 (28%) cases with regurgitation/emesis, bleeding (8, 8%), hypoxia (7, 7%), and dislodgement (5, 5%). Among cases of successful i-gel^® placement, the majority of paramedics rated both ease of placement and ease of ventilation as "very easy" (69% and 78%, respectively) or "somewhat easy" (23% and 9%).

Conclusions: Paramedics were successful in 88% of i-gel^® insertion attempts with the most common complication being regurgitation/emesis. Paramedics rated the ease of placement and ease of ventilation of the i-gel^® device as "very easy" or "somewhat easy" in the vast majority of cases.

Objectives: Hydrazine (HZ) and Hydrazine Derivative (HZ-D) exposures pose health risks to people in industrial and aerospace settings. Several recent systematic reviews and case series have highlighted common clinical presentations and management strategies. Given the low frequency at which HZ and HZ-D exposures occur, a strong evidence base on which to develop an evidence-based guideline does not exist at this time. Therefore, the aim of this project is to establish a consensus guideline for prehospital care of patients with exposures to HZ and HZ-Ds.

Methods: A modified Delphi technique was used to develop clinical questions, obtain expert panel opinions, develop initial patient care recommendations, and revise the draft into a final consensus guideline. First, individuals (Emergency Medical Services (EMS) physicians and hazardous materials technicians) with experience in management of HZ and HZ-Ds identified relevant clinical questions. An expert panel was then convened to make clinical recommendations. In the first round, the panel voted on clinical care recommendations. These recommendations were drafted into a guideline that expert panel members reviewed. After review, additional unanswered questions were discussed electronically by expert panel members, and electronic votes were cast. Ultimately, patient care recommendations were condensed into a concise, consensus guideline.

Results: Eight clinical questions regarding treatment of patients with HZ and HZ-D exposures were identified. These questions were reviewed by the expert panel which included 2 representatives from: aerospace medicine, military medicine, EMS medicine, paramedicine, pharmacy, and toxicology. Draft patient care recommendations generated three additional questions which were discussed electronically and voted on. These recommendations were then formatted into a guideline outlining recommendations for care prior to decontamination, during decontamination, and after decontamination.

Conclusions: The consensus guideline for clinical care of patients with exposure to HZ/HZ-Ds is as follows: Prior to decontamination, use appropriate personal protective equipment, and when necessary, support ventilation using a bag-valve-mask and administer midazolam intramuscularly for seizures. After decontamination, provide supplemental oxygen; consider selective advanced airway management when indicated; administer inhaled beta-agonists for wheezing; and, for seizures unresponsive to multiple doses of benzodiazepines that occur during pre-planned, high-hazard activities, such as spacecraft recovery, consider intravenous or intraosseous pyridoxine.

Objectives: Pulseless electrical activity (PEA) arrest, which includes pseudo-PEA, is increasingly common and survival remains dismal. We hypothesized that mechanical chest compressions synchronized to native cardiac contractions improve coronary perfusion pressure (CPP) during pseudo-PEA resuscitation.

Methods: We developed a model of pseudo-PEA by infusing high dose esmolol intravenously into anesthetized, intubated, and central arterial and venous catheterized swine to a goal of 45 mm Hg mean arterial blood pressure (MAP). We performed a randomized unblinded repeated crossover trial by administering alternating synchronized and unsynchronized chest compressions for 52 s preceded by 8 s breaks consecutively 4 times. We repeated the protocol approximately 4 times with 1 min breaks. Synchronized compressions were provided 1:1 with native contractions during systole and unsynchronized compressions were provided at 100 beats per minute (BPM). We measured average CPP, MAP, and heartrate (HR) for 5 beats immediately preceding the chest compression onset and for 30 s 10 s after compression onset. We computed the difference in continuous CPP during compressions compared to the immediately preceding baseline for each interval. We developed a mixed linear model with outcome average CPP during compressions minus baseline, fixed variable compression type, and random variable animal.

Results: We included 6 animals. Mean baseline HR was 76.0 BPM, MAP 49.9, and CPP 36.2. Chest compressions increased CPP from baseline an average 1.7 mm Hg when unsynchronized and 5.6 mm Hg synchronized. The adjusted difference was 4.0 mm Hg (95% CI 2.4-5.5).

Conclusions: Synchronized chest compressions increased CPP 4.0 mm Hg (135%) more than unsynchronized compressions despite a lower compression rate in medication-induced pseudo-PEA. Further refinement and eventual application to patients suffering pseudo-PEA arrest appear warranted.

Objectives: Benzodiazepines are the treatment for seizures in prehospital settings, but fail in up to 40% of cases, leading to benzodiazepine refractory status epilepticus (BRSE). Early treatment of BRSE is essential to prevent neurological damage and death. Ketamine, an N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor antagonist used by emergency medical services (EMS) for a variety of indications, has potential as a safe, effective prehospital treatment for BRSE. However, safety and efficacy data for early treatment of patients with seizures are limited.

Methods: We retrospectively analyzed patients treated by EMS clinicians with ketamine for BRSE at a single urban ground-based EMS system between September 1, 2021, and December 1, 2023. Ketamine dose and route, patient characteristics, and airway interventions are described. Data were gathered from EMS records.

Results: Forty-two patients aged 8 months to 79 years, were included. Ketamine was administered intramuscularly in 22 with an average dose of 3.3 mg/kg, and intravenously or intraosseous in 20, with an average dose of 2.2 mg/kg. Ketamine stopped seizures in 38 patients (90.5%). Transient hypoxia occurred in 9 patients (22%). Respirations were supported with bag-valve-mask ventilation in 13 patients (31%), a supraglottic airway in three (7%), and one patient was endotracheally intubated (2.4%).

Conclusions: Ketamine appears safe and effective for prehospital treatment of BRSE. Monitoring and intervention for respiratory complications appears necessary, but rates of these complications are consistent with expected rates from seizures and appropriate benzodiazepine dosing. These findings support ketamine's use in EMS for BRSE. Larger prospective studies are needed to confirm safety and efficacy.

Objectives: Although earlier antibiotics are known to be beneficial in sepsis, very few emergency medical services (EMS) agencies have protocols for prehospital antibiotics for sepsis. Therefore, we sought to assess how well a large EMS agency that uses prehospital antibiotics for sepsis adheres to its sepsis protocol (when initiated), and to determine how soon antibiotics are typically given.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective chart review of patients identified as "sepsis alerts" by EMS clinicians from a single EMS system in Florida, USA. The prehospital sepsis protocol dictated that EMS clinicians initiate a "sepsis alert" if the patient had a suspected infection and at least 2 of the following 3 criteria based on the sequential (sepsis-related) organ failure assessment (qSOFA) score: altered mental status, respiratory rate > 22 breaths per minute or end-tidal CO2 < 25 mmHg, or systolic blood pressure < 100 mmHg. Per protocol, patients meeting sepsis criteria were supposed to receive intravenous ceftriaxone and intramuscular gentamicin. We reviewed the charts of sepsis alert patients to determine demographic information, clinical characteristics, sepsis protocol compliance, and when patients received antibiotics.

Results: Between June 1, 2023, and June 30, 2024, there were 1308 patients for whom a prehospital sepsis alert was initiated. Median age was 80.0 years (IQR: 72-87.5), and 48.5% had hypotension (systolic blood pressure < 100 mmHg). Of the 1308 sepsis alert patients, review of documentation confirmed that 1301 (99.5%) had a suspected infection with at least 2 sepsis alert criteria. In total, 1264 (96.6%) received at least 1 antibiotic (either ceftriaxone or gentamicin) prior to hospital arrival. The median time from 9-1-1 call to first antibiotic administration was 26 min (IQR: 21-31 min). The first antibiotic was given a median of 11 min (IQR: 7-16 min) prior to hospital arrival.

Conclusions: For patients in whom a sepsis alert was initiated, EMS clinicians adhered to the sepsis protocol and administered antibiotics prior to hospital arrival in 97% of cases. Patients received their first antibiotic a median of approximately 26 min after 9-1-1 call and 11 min prior to hospital arrival.

Objectives: Automatic External Defibrillators (AEDs) are a tremendous advance in the care of victims of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. We sought to define and assess the legal landscape regarding Automatic External Defibrillators (AEDs) in the United States (U.S.).

Methods: We performed a retrospective study of all state and federal laws relevant to the use of AEDs outside the hospital in the U.S. In the first of three phases, we searched a database of U.S. laws and regulations ("rules") using broad relevant search terms. Teams of two investigators reviewed all rules identified for relevance to ten realms: location, acquisition, deployment, liability, training, accessibility, maintenance, registration, interface, and reporting. We termed the application of each rule to a single realm an "action," so each rule could have one or more actions. In Phase 2, a third reviewer resolved any differences or discrepancies. A separate team of investigators confirmed or identified a "URL" online address for each rule. In Phase 3, we performed quantitative assessments of all included rules using summary statistics and Cohen's kappa to assess reviewer reliability. We made qualitative assessments for each realm across all jurisdictions using SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) analyses.

Results: Nine hundred twenty-one rules, which included 1,987 actions, were deemed relevant to defibrillator access and use in the community, with a mean of 17.4 (SD 14.0) rules and 37.5 (SD 35.0) actions per jurisdiction, suggesting large heterogeneity in actions across states. There were 21 federal rules, including 42 actions. Qualitative analyses revealed that some states have successfully implemented AED training programs and public awareness campaigns, but uneven public awareness, cost, liability, and overly complex or stringent rules have posed barriers to successful AED deployment and use.

Conclusions: We have provided a focused overview of U.S. rules governing community AEDs. We found high heterogeneity across states and a limited federal floor of rules. It is hoped this report can be used to improve legislation and resulting future successful AED use.

Objectives: Efficient dispatching of physician-staffed vehicles in emergency medical services requires clear criteria to ensure timely allocation of resources, improve patient outcomes, and minimize response time under high-pressure conditions. The aim of this study was to identify criteria ensuring that emergency physicians are safely managed and efficiently deployed.

Methods: Rescue service deployments in the city of Dresden, Germany (01/01/2021-12/31/2021), were analyzed retrospectively. The rescue mission indications determined by the telecommunicator, along with the presence of vital sign abnormalities at site - such as airway, breathing, circulation, and disability - based on the ABCDE approach from the Advanced Life Support and Advanced Trauma Life Support algorithms, were analyzed. Specific emergency medical procedures carried out in the particular mission were assigned to the respective competence level (CL): CL1: invasive measures reserved for physicians; CL2: invasive measures that paramedics are trained to use independently in emergency situations; CL3: standard measures; CL4: counseling only; and CL5: no measures.

Results: In all, 67,975 missions were analyzed. Missions were most frequently dispatched for internal indications, such as cardiovascular and pulmonary emergencies (28.4%), and traumatological indications (20.4%). Despite the physician being dispatched in 36.5% of cases, invasive measures (CL1/CL2) were only used in 13.9% of missions. Internal indications (11.8%) and resuscitation (19.6%) frequently required CL1 measures. CL2 measures were more frequently applied than CL1 measures for allergic (44.2% vs. 1.9%), neurological (12.5% vs. 3.4%), and psychological (6.1% vs. 0.7%) indications. In most interventions (62.2%), only the standard competencies (CL3) were used as the highest level of competence. For most mission indications, the probability of invasive measures (CL1/CL2) increased significantly in the presence of at least one vital sign abnormality.

Conclusions: The results show opportunities for optimizing emergency physician dispatch. The presence of a vital sign abnormality should be given greater consideration in the future. Query algorithms for detecting cases with a high probability of requiring CL1/CL2 measures could support efficient dispatching. Furthermore, emergencies requiring CL2 but rarely CL1 measures could be handled independently by emergency paramedics, particularly if they have access to the support of a tele-emergency physician for situations where CL1 measures become necessary.

Objectives: To systematically review the (1) incidence, prevalence, and severity of mental health issues and occupational stress issues among emergency telecommunicators, and (2) effectiveness and harms of interventions to promote resistance and resilience regarding these issues.

Methods: We searched Medline, Embase, CENTRAL, CINAHL, ClinicalTrials.gov, journals, and websites from January 1, 2001, through June 30, 2024. We conducted duplicate screening of titles and abstracts followed by full texts of potentially relevant records. We included studies of telecommunicators in high-income countries that reported the incidence/prevalence/severity of mental health issues and occupational stress issues or evaluated interventions targeting resistance/resilience regarding these issues. We excluded studies of telecommunicators in training during the study. We assessed the risk of bias using study design-specific tools, conducted meta-analyses using random-effects models, and evaluated strength of evidence (SoE) per Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality methods. We registered the systematic review prospectively in PROSPERO (CRD42023465325).

Results: We included 31 studies (29 cross-sectional studies, 1 pre-post study, and 1 randomized controlled trial) that evaluated a total of 6,621 participants. Research Question 1 (30 studies): No study reported on incidence of any outcome. During routine practice, prevalence estimates were: any depression 15.5%, suicidal ideation 12.4%, suicide plans 5.7%, suicide attempts 0.7%, alcohol abuse 15.5%, high/extreme peri-traumatic distress 5%, high secondary traumatic stress 16.3%, and acute stress disorder 17% (low SoE for each). In terms of severity, on average, depressive symptoms and stress were mild/low to moderate, burnout was mild to severe (moderate SoE); peri-traumatic distress was moderate, and secondary traumatic stress was mild (low SoE). After critical incidents, the prevalence of high and medium general stress was 39.7% and 28.2%, respectively (low SoE). In terms of severity, on average, burnout and general stress were moderate (low SoE). Research Question 2 (2 studies): The evidence was insufficient regarding the impacts of interventions on anxiety, depression, posttraumatic stress disorder, and alcohol use.

Conclusions: The prevalence and severity of mental health and occupational stress issues in the emergency telecommunicator workforce merits greater attention. Much more research is needed regarding the effectiveness of interventions for strengthening the resistance and resilience of the workforce.

Objectives: Prehospital endotracheal intubation (ETI) is a lifesaving procedure with known complications. To reduce ETI-associated morbidity and mortality, organizations prioritize first-pass success (FPS). However, there are few data evaluating the association of FPS with clinician licensure.

Methods: We performed a retrospective chart review of all paramedic and nurse ETI attempts by a multi-state air and ground critical care transport service between January 1, 2008, and December 31, 2023. Our outcomes of interest were FPS and last-pass success (LPS). The exposure of interest was clinician license. We performed a multivariable logistic regression controlling for multiple common patient/operational confounders: age, sex, referring/procedure location, medical category, year, paralytic use, and proceduralist experience. As an exploratory analysis we assessed FPS by licensure and years of experience using time since first patient mission as a surrogate (<1 year, 1 to <2 years, 2 to <3 years, and 3+ years).

Results: Of 171,804 encounters over the study period, 8,307 (4.8%) required ETI. Included encounters were mostly adult (≥18 years old; 91.0%), male (64.0%), and victims of trauma (57.4%). Most intubations were performed on primary retrieval (scene) missions (70.5%) with neuromuscular blockade (93.3%). Nurses and paramedics intubated with similar success on the first (88.8%; 95% confidence interval [CI] 87.9-89.8 vs. 89.7%; 95% CI 88.7-90.7) and last (97.4%; 95% CI 96.9-97.9 vs. 97.3%; 95% CI 96.7-97.8) attempts. Multivariable analysis revealed no significant difference between two groups for FPS (aOR 0.90; 95% CI 0.77-1.04]) or LPS (aOR 1.00; 95% CI 0.76-1.32). FPS was also similar for nurses (74.7%; 95% CI 69.8-79.7) and paramedics (80.6%; 95% CI 75.6-85.6) within the first year, and after 3 years of experience (91.6%; 95% CI 90.6-92.5 vs. 91.5%; 95% CI 90.5-92.6).

Conclusions: Critical care paramedics and nurses perform ETI with similar proficiency. In this analysis of 7,812 intubations, clinician licensure was not associated with FPS nor LPS after controlling for multiple common confounders. Further research evaluating training schemes especially in early years of experience is needed.

Objectives: Within paramedic education immersive simulation is widely used to teach technical skills, but its application to non-technical aspects of practice, such as research skills, is limited. This study aimed to explore immersive simulation as a tool to teach specific research skills to paramedic students in higher education to investigate its novel capacity beyond the more traditionally considered technical elements of practice.

Methods: A didactic pre-briefing was delivered to undergraduate paramedic students before they undertook an immersive simulation in which they were expected to assess, extricate, and treat a stroke patient, whilst also assessing whether he was suitable to be enrolled onto a clinical trial, provide information on this, and take consent. A large-scale immersive environment furnished with surround audio-visual display equipment was utilized; the environment also contained an ambulance, a hatchback car, and two actors. After the simulation and debriefing, students completed an online questionnaire comprising open-ended questions and the following scales: Simulation Design Scale (fidelity subscale only), Simulation Effectiveness Tool - Modified, and Satisfaction with Simulation Experience. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and a manifest qualitative content analysis.

Results: Data were collected from twenty-eight undergraduate paramedic students. Most students believed simulation fidelity was important (89.3%) and most agreed that the simulation was realistic (82.1%). Pre-briefing (100%) and debriefing (85.7%) opportunities were considered important for increasing student's confidence and learning, and, overall, students enjoyed the simulation (89.3%). Three themes emerged during the qualitative analysis: the significance of an immersive "real" environment, enjoyment as important for engagement and learning, and improved confidence via opportunities for autonomous practice.

Conclusions: Immersive simulation is a valuable pedagogical tool for the delivery of research skills teaching. These findings align with previous research which has investigated immersive simulation for teaching clinical skills, but more broadly, also highlight the compounding positive impact of immersive technology when deployed alongside actors and high-fidelity equipment.