Statements in which the resource exists as a subject.
PredicateObject
rdf:type
lifeskim:mentions
pubmed:issue
2
pubmed:dateCreated
1990-3-9
pubmed:abstractText
Early defibrillation of patients with coarse ventricular fibrillation has been implicated as a predictor of survival in prehospital cardiac arrest. A retrospective study of our experience with prehospital defibrillation was conducted to define the relationship between rapid delivery of first countershock and survival, determine whether a relationship exists between the number of countershocks delivered and the save rate, and assist clinicians with general guidelines for termination of advanced life support efforts in the presence of ventricular fibrillation refractory to multiple defibrillation attempts. During the ten-year study period, adult, nontraumatic, nonpoisoned, witnessed arrests with an initial rhythm of coarse ventricular fibrillation were reviewed. Of 1,497 patients, 25% survived, 13% were paramedic-witnessed (PW) arrests, and 87% were non-paramedic-witnessed (NPW) arrests. The mean PW shock time, defined as time from arrest to first shock, was 1.6 +/- 3.7 minutes with a save rate of 37%. The mean NPW shock time was 10.2 +/- 5.1 minutes with a save rate of 23% (P less than or equal to .001). Thirty-two percent of PW arrests were converted to a spontaneous rhythm with pulses after the first countershock compared with 9% of NPW arrests (P less than or equal to .001). There was a dramatic decrease in PW arrests obtaining a perfusing rhythm after the first countershock attempt with each minute delay in electrical countershock up to three minutes; a plateau effect was evident after three minutes.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
pubmed:language
eng
pubmed:journal
pubmed:citationSubset
AIM
pubmed:status
MEDLINE
pubmed:month
Feb
pubmed:issn
0196-0644
pubmed:author
pubmed:issnType
Print
pubmed:volume
19
pubmed:owner
NLM
pubmed:authorsComplete
Y
pubmed:pagination
157-62
pubmed:dateRevised
2004-11-17
pubmed:meshHeading
pubmed:year
1990
pubmed:articleTitle
Prehospital experience with defibrillation of coarse ventricular fibrillation: a ten-year review.
pubmed:affiliation
Department of Emergency Medicine, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee.
pubmed:publicationType
Journal Article