Linked Life Data

8434834

Source:http://linkedlifedata.com/resource/pubmed/id/8434834

Statements in which the resource exists as a subject.
PredicateObject
rdf:type
lifeskim:mentions
pubmed:issue
2 Pt 2
pubmed:dateCreated
1993-3-12
pubmed:abstractText
To improve emergency cardiac care (ECC) on the national or international level, we must translate to the rest of our communities the successes found in cities with high survival rates. In recent years, important developments have evolved in our understanding of the treatment and evaluation of cardiac arrest. Some of the most important of these developments include 1) recognition of the chain of survival, which is necessary to achieve high survival rates; 2) widespread acceptance that survival rates must be assessed routinely to ensure continuous quality improvements in the emergency medical services (EMS) system; and 3) development of improved methods for performing survival rate studies that will maximize the effectiveness of information gathering and analysis. While each community should determine how to optimize their own ECC services, some general guidelines are useful. Successful treatment of cardiac arrest starts in the community with prevention and education, including early recognition of the signs and symptoms of cardiovascular ischemia. Obtaining 911 service (and preferably enhanced 911) should be a top priority for all communities. EMS dispatchers should dispatch the unit to the scene in less than one minute, provide critical information to the responders regarding the type of emergency, and offer the caller telephone-assisted CPR instructions. The EMS first-responders should strive to arrive at the patient's side in less than four minutes, be able to immediately defibrillate if necessary, and begin basic CPR. An excellent strategy to accomplish this is to equip and train all fire-fighting units in the operation of automatic external defibrillators and dispatch them as a first-responder team. To manage the cardiac arrest patient, a minimum of two rescuers trained in advanced cardiac life support plus two or more rescuers trained in basic life support are needed. Furthermore, an EMS system is not complete without on-going evaluation. Therefore, the 1992 National Conference on CPR and ECC strongly endorses the position that all ECC systems assess their survival rates through an ongoing quality improvement process and that all members of the chain of providers should be represented in the outcome assessment team. We still have much to discover regarding optimal techniques of CPR, methods for data collection, and optimal structure of an EMS system. Research in these areas will provide the foundation for future changes in EMS systems development.
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
22
pubmed:owner
NLM
pubmed:authorsComplete
Y
pubmed:pagination
354-65
pubmed:dateRevised
2004-11-17
pubmed:meshHeading
pubmed:year
1993
pubmed:articleTitle
Ensuring the effectiveness of community-wide emergency cardiac care.
pubmed:affiliation
Department of Medicine, University of Chicago, IL.
pubmed:publicationType
Journal Article, Review