Early defibrillation by EMTs: the Brussels experience
Considering that in Brussels the first-aid ambulance team reaches the patient in cardiac arrest 10 min before the physician-manned ambulance, we instituted a feasibility study of early defibrillation by emergency medical technicians (EMTs). Three hundred EMTs received a 20-h automatic external defib...
Gespeichert in:
Veröffentlicht in: | Resuscitation 1994-03, Vol.27 (2), p.129-136 |
---|---|
Hauptverfasser: | , , , , , , , , |
Format: | Artikel |
Sprache: | eng |
Schlagworte: | |
Online-Zugang: | Volltext |
Tags: |
Tag hinzufügen
Keine Tags, Fügen Sie den ersten Tag hinzu!
|
Zusammenfassung: | Considering that in Brussels the first-aid ambulance team reaches the patient in cardiac arrest 10 min before the physician-manned ambulance, we instituted a feasibility study of early defibrillation by emergency medical technicians (EMTs). Three hundred EMTs received a 20-h automatic external defibrillation (AED) training course followed by a refresher course every 6 months. Of 316 cardiac arrests included in this study, asystole was encountered in 53% and ventricular fibrillation/ventricular tachycardia (VF/VT) in 33% of the cases on arrival of the EMTs. In the VFNT group, defibrillation was performed by EMTs with a Laerdal Heartstart 7–9 min before the medical team arrived. The overall cardiac arrest survival rate improved from 7% in 1989 to 19% in 1992. However, the long-term survival rate (
14
105
) of ventricular fibrillation remained low because of excessive delays in emergency medical service (EMS) access and in early ACLS. In conclusion, this work shows that in Brussels: (1) early defibrillation of cardiac arrest victims in VF is feasible by EMTs when a training and a follow-up program are implemented; (2) the weakest link of the chain of survival is the early EMS access, and the early ACLS; and (3) the AED program increases the interest and the efficacy of EMTs and medical teams in the management of cardiac arrests. |
---|---|
ISSN: | 0300-9572 1873-1570 |
DOI: | 10.1016/0300-9572(94)90005-1 |