Thoracic Pressure Changes Show Impact of Bundles of Care

I'm not a physician or EMS researcher, but as editor-in-chief of JEMS, I'm often afforded the opportunity to observe the work of pioneers in our field who are conducting research and advancing the science and practical applications that can help us improve our prehospital care.  I had one such opportunity when I joined some of the most prominent physicians and researchers in the field of resuscitation at a special innovations summit with pig and human cadaver labs in Minneapolis as a part of the Take Heart America (THA) initiative. The human cardiac system is similar to the way an engine works. CanStockPhoto/archy13 THA's mission is to develop and implement state-of-the-art systems of care outside and inside the hospital to restore full life after cardiac arrest. THA has adopted a "bundle of care" philosophy that no single intervention is effective in the treatment of cardiac arrest, but rather, that multiple personnel, treatments and devices are needed due to the highly complex nature of the disease state. The elements of this bundle are synergistic: When the entire bundle is available and used as needed, the data shows that survival rates from cardiac arrest soar. After a morning of presentations by researchers and cardiologists that focused on their work and results, we were taken to labs to watch as a carefully monitored pig was placed into v fib and then resuscitated by standard and enhanced methods as described in this month's articles, "Resuscitati...
Source: JEMS Patient Care - Category: Emergency Medicine Authors: Tags: Cardiac & Resuscitation Columns Source Type: news