European Resuscitation Council

The optimal strategy for training cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) for healthcare professionals remains to be determined. This scoping review aimed to describe the emerging evidence for CPR training for healthcare professionals.We screened 7605 abstracts and included 110 studies in this scoping review on CPR training for healthcare professionals. We assessed the included articles for evidence for the following topics: training duration, retraining intervals, e-learning, virtual reality/augmented reality/gamified learning, instructor-learner ratio, equipment and manikins, other aspects of contextual learning content, feedback devices, and feedback/debriefing. We found emerging evidence supporting the use of low-dose, high-frequency training with e-learning to achieve knowledge, feedback devices to perform high-quality chest compressions, and in situ team simulations with debriefings to improve the performance of provider teams.

Smartphone alerting systems (SAS) for first responders potentially shorten the resuscitation-free interval of patients with acute cardiac arrest. During the corona virus disease-19 (COVID-19) pandemic, many systems are suspended due to potential risks for the responders.Objective of the study was to establish a concept for SAS during the COVID-19 pandemic and to evaluate whether a SAS can safely be operated in pandemic conditions.A SAS had been implemented in Freiburg (Germany) in 2018 alerting nearby registered first responders in case of emergencies with suspected cardiac arrest. Due to the pandemic, SAS was stopped in March 2020. A concept for a safe restart was elaborated with provision of a set with ventilation bag/mask, airway filter, and personal protective equipment (PPE) for every volunteer. A standard operating procedure was elaborated following the COVID-19 guidelines of the European Resuscitation Council.Willingness of the participants to respond alarms during the pandemic was investigated using an online survey. The response rates of first responders were monitored before and after deactivation, and during the second wave of the pandemic.The system was restarted in May 2020. The willingness to respond to alarms was lower during the pandemic without PPE. It remained lower than before the pandemic when the volunteers had been equipped with PPE, but the alarm response rate remained at approximately 50% during the second wave of the pandemic.When volunteers are equipped with PPE, the operation of a SAS does not need to be paused, and the willingness to respond remains high among first responders.

Due to an increasing number of severe complications reported during the prehospital application of laryngeal tubes, the Austrian Society for Anesthesiology, Resuscitation and Intensive Care Medicine (ÖGARI) is prompted to formulate arespective statement. With regard to the current training situation and the applicable laws, ÖGARI recommends to convert the "Emergency Competence for Endotracheal Intubation (NKI)" for emergency paramedics into an "Emergency Competence for Extraglottic Airway Management, (NK-EGA)". Training should include at least 40 h of theoretical instruction, hands-on training on the manikin to secure mastery of the methodology and at least 20successful applications under clinically elective conditions in adult patients under direct medical supervision. Here, depending on local conditions, both laryngeal mask and laryngeal tube can be used. In the prehospital environment, the device must be used which has been trained as mentioned above. Only 2nd generation EGA should be used. After successful EGA placement timely cuff pressure monitoring and gastric suction should be performed. The use of an EGA by ambulance-men cannot be recommended; these have to be limited to bag-mask ventilation.

Background:In the clinical setting, the dispersed practitioners’ attention often leads to decreased competence in their performance. We aimed to investigate the effect of distracted practitioners on the quality of chest compression during cardiopulmonary resuscitation.Methods:A randomized controlled crossover simulation study was conducted. Participants were recruited from among doctors, nurses, and paramedics working in a university tertiary hospital. The paced auditory serial addition test (PASAT) was used as a tool for distracting participants. In the crossover design, each participant played 2 scenarios with a 20-minute time gap, by a random order; 2-minute continuous chest compressions with and without PASAT being conducted. The primary outcome was the percentage of compression with an adequate compression rate. Secondary outcomes were the percentage of compression with adequate depth, the percentage of compression with full chest wall recoil, mean compression rate (per minute), mean compression depth, and subjective difficulty of chest compression.Results:Forty-four participants were enrolled, and all of them completed the study. It was found that the percentage of compression with an adequate compression rate was lower when the PASAT was conducted. Although there was no difference in the percentage of compression with adequate depth (P = .88), the percentage of compression with complete chest recoil was lower when PASAT was conducted. In addition, while the mean compression rate was higher when PASAT was conducted, the mean compression depth was not significantly different (P = .65). The subjective difficulty was not different (P = .69).Conclusions:Health care providers who are distracted have a negative effect on the quality of chest compression, in terms of its rate and chest wall recoil.Trial registration:www.ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT03124290.