Advanced Life Support Procedures Research Articles

Nurses' roles and responsibilities in cardiac advanced life support: A single-site eDelphi study.

Nurses are often the first responders to in-hospital cardiac arrest in postoperative cardiac surgical patients. Poor clarity about role expectations and responsibilities can hinder nurses' performance during cardiac advanced life support (CALS) procedures. To seek expert consensus on nurses' roles and responsibilities in CALS for patients in postoperative cardiac surgical patients. A two-round modified eDelphi survey. Delphi items were informed by guideline literature, an audit of resuscitation records and expert interviews. Panellists, drawn from a single site of a large tertiary health service in metropolitan Melbourne, included nurses, doctors and surgeons familiar with the management of cardiac arrest in post-operative cardiac surgical patients. The two rounds of the modified eDelphi generated 55 responses. A consensus of >80% agreement was reached for 24 of the 41 statements in Round 2. All items related to nurses' roles and responsibilities during nurses pre- and post-arrest phases reached consensus. In contrast, only 29% (n= 4/14) of items related to peri-arrest, and 36% of those related to nurse scope of practise in CALS arrest (n= 4/11) reached consensus. The study's aim was only partially achieved. Findings indicate high agreement about nurses' roles and responsibilities before and immediately after a cardiac arrest, but limited clarity about nurses' roles when implementing the CALS protocol, such as resternotomy and internal cardiac massage. There is an urgent need to address uncertainty about nurses' roles and scope of practice in CALS, which is essential to the recognition of nurses' contribution to the cardiac specialty workforce. Uncertainty about nurses 'roles and responsibilities when implementing the CALS protocol may hinder their performance to their full scope of practice, leading to poor patient outcomes.

PERFORMING ADVANCED LIFE SUPPORT TREATMENTS IN INTENSIVE CARE UNIT PATIENTS DURING COVID-19 - NEW CHALLENGES AND PROCEDURES

Aim: To analyze the knowledge on Advanced Life Support procedures performed in Intensive Care Unit patients in the COVID-19 era as new challenges and procedures among medical staff from January 1 to April 30, 2021. Material and methods: The survey included 102 people, mostly women (68%), the percentage of men was 32%. Results: The vast majority of respondents – 82% are convinced that they know new ALS procedures in ICU patients in the time of the COVID-19 pandemic. The knowledge of procedures among medical personnel was influenced by the fact that they had qualification courses or specializations. The obtained results should be considered alarming, as they show significant gaps in the knowledge of the ALS guidelines during the COVID-19 pandemic. Conclusions: Most of the respondents got acquainted with the new procedures for performing ALS procedures in the time of the COVID-19 pandemic on their own, hence an important conclusion of this survey is the absolute greater popularization, availability and periodic repetition of training among medical personnel in the field of ALS.

New Flexible Tip Bougie catheter for difficult airway intubation. A randomized, crossover pilot study

INTRODUCTION: The ability to protect the airway is one of the basic skills that medical staff should have, especially those working within the Emergency Medical Service or Emergency Department. Endotracheal intubation under medical emergency conditions based on direct laryngoscopy is not effective enough; this effect is additionally reduced in the case of the difficult airway resulting from reduced visibility of the entrance to the glottis due to tongue or epiglottis oedema, trauma, etc. The aim of the study was to compare the intubation time and its effectiveness using two different stylets for difficult airway intubation. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The study involved 37 nurses who participated in training on advanced life support procedures. The experiment was designed as a randomized, cross-over simulation study. During the training, participants were instructed to perform endotracheal intubation using the tested intubation methods and had 20 minutes of practical training during which they were able to intubate with the tested stylets under normal airway. In the study, participants performed endotracheal intubation using a laryngoscope with a Macintosh blade and a difficult airway Bougie stylet (ONTEX, Chennai, India), or the Flexible Tip Bougie (MDSS GmbH, Hannover, Germany), which was designed to allow to guide the distal end of the anteriorly and posteriorly to facilitate entry into the larynx. RESULTS: The effectiveness of the first intubation attempt using a standard Bougie stylet was 37.8%, and that of the new Bougie stylet was 51.4% (p = 0.037). The mean intubation time was 55 s (IQR; 34–65) vs. 37 s (IQR; 25–41) (respectively, p = 0.021). The median ease of intubation was 7 (IQR; 5–9) points for a standard Bougie stylet and 5 (2.5–7) 2 points for a new Bougie stylet (p = 0.018). CONCLUSIONS: In a simulation study, the use of Flextip Bougie by nurses compared to a standard Bougie stylet was associated with higher efficacy and shorter intubation times in difficult airway.

Pediatric out-of-hospital cardiopulmonary resuscitation by helicopter emergency medical service, does it has added value compared to regular emergency medical service?

PurposeTo determine the outcome of out-of-hospital (OOH) cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and the advanced life support (ALS) procedures provided in pediatrics by the Rotterdam Helicopter Emergency Medical Service (HEMS)MethodsRetrospective evaluation of all pediatric (0–17 years) OOH cardiopulmonary arrests within a 6-year period and attended by the Rotterdam HEMS team.ResultsThere were 201 OOH CPRs from October 2008 until October 2014. Endotracheal intubation was performed in 164 cases and done by HEMS in 104 patients (63%), intraosseous/intravenous cannulation 43/27 times, and additional medication given by HEMS in 70 patients (35%). The overall survival rate for OOH CPR was 15%, but in trauma was low. Twenty-seven of the 29 pediatric patients who survived until discharge are neurological well. Although the Dutch nationwide ambulance protocol states intubation, intravenous, or intraosseal excess and medication, in many patients, only HEMS provided additional ALS care.ConclusionThe HEMS brings essential medical expertise in the field not provided by regular emergency medical service. HEMS provide a significant quantity of procedures, obviously needed by the OOH CPR of a pediatric patient.

Prehospital traumatic cardiac arrest: Management and outcomes from the resuscitation outcomes consortium epistry-trauma and PROPHET registries.

Traumatic arrests have historically had poor survival rates. Identifying salvageable patients and ideal management is challenging. We aimed to (1) describe the management and outcomes of prehospital traumatic arrests; (2) determine regional variation in survival; and (3) identify Advanced Life Support (ALS) procedures associated with survival. This was a secondary analysis of cases from the Resuscitation Outcomes Consortium Epistry-Trauma and Prospective Observational Prehospital and Hospital Registry for Trauma (PROPHET) registries. Patients were included if they had a blunt or penetrating injury and received cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Logistic regression analyses were used to determine the association between ALS procedures and survival. We included 2,300 patients who were predominately young (Epistry mean [SD], 39 [20] years; PROPHET mean [SD], 40 [19] years), males (79%), injured by blunt trauma (Epistry, 68%; PROPHET, 67%), and treated by ALS paramedics (Epistry, 93%; PROPHET, 98%). A total of 145 patients (6.3%) survived to hospital discharge. More patients with blunt (Epistry, 8.3%; PROPHET, 6.5%) vs. penetrating injuries (Epistry, 4.6%; PROPHET, 2.7%) survived. Most survivors (81%) had vitals on emergency medical services arrival. Rates of survival varied significantly between the 12 study sites (p = 0.048) in the Epistry but not PROPHET (p = 0.14) registries.Patients in the PROPHET registry who received a supraglottic airway insertion or intubation experienced decreased odds of survival (adjusted OR, 0.27; 95% confidence interval, 0.08-0.93; and 0.37; 95% confidence interval, 0.17-0.78, respectively) compared to those receiving bag-mask ventilation. No other procedures were associated with survival. Survival from traumatic arrest may be higher than expected, particularly in blunt trauma and patients with vitals on emergency medical services arrival. Although limited by confounding and statistical power, no ALS procedures were associated with increased odds of survival. Prognostic study, level IV.

Assistência pediátrica de uma viatura médica de emergência e reanimação no interior do país

Introduction and Aim: The rapid response vehicles (VMER) are intended for emergency pre-hospital medical intervention, and 5-15% of their activations are for pediatric patients. The aim of the study was to characterize the assistance of the pediatric VMER-Vila Real services, to better identify gaps and develop strategies to correct them. Materials and Methods: Retrospective review of children reports’ less than 18 years of age assisted by VMER-Vila Real between January 2005 and December 2012 (eight years). Results: During the study period, VMER-Vila Real was activated 8131, of which 463 (5.7%) were children less than 18 years with with a mean age of 8.2 years. The mean time of arrival at the site of assistance was 18 minutes. In 22.2% of situations, rendez-vous was made. The main reason for activation was acute disease (39.5%), of which 43.2% presented seizures. Trauma accounted for 36.5%. Acute disease was more prevalent in children under two years of age and trauma in adolescents (p <0.001). Advanced life support procedures were instituted in 5.2% of patients. Three hundred ninety-eight patients were transported to local hospitals (86%). There were 13 deaths (2.8%) during this period. Discussion: The main reasons for the activation were acute illness in patients under two years of age and trauma in the adolescence. The average time of arrival at patients’ location, high percentage of rendez-vous and deliveries can be justified by the peculiar regional topography. The total number of activations within this age group, which presents itself with specific needs in terms of treatment, puts in evidence the need of additional investment in the training of human resources.

The art of providing resuscitation in Greek mythology.

We reviewed Greek mythology to accumulate tales of resuscitation and we explored whether these tales could be viewed as indirect evidence that ancient Greeks considered resuscitation strategies similar to those currently used. Three compendia of Greek mythology: The Routledge Handbook of Greek Mythology, The Greek Myths by Robert Graves, and Greek Mythology by Ioannis Kakridis were used to find potentially relevant narratives. Thirteen myths that may suggest resuscitation (including 1 case of autoresuscitation) were identified. Methods to attempt mythological resuscitation included use of hands (which may correlate with basic life support procedures), a kiss on the mouth (similar to mouth-to-mouth resuscitation), application of burning torches (which might recall contemporary use of external defibrillators), and administration of drugs (a possible analogy to advanced life support procedures). A careful assessment of relevant myths demonstrated that interpretations other than medical might be more credible. Although several narratives of Greek mythology might suggest modern resuscitation techniques, they do not clearly indicate that ancient Greeks presaged scientific methods of resuscitation. Nevertheless, these elegant tales reflect humankind's optimism that a dying human might be restored to life if the appropriate procedures were implemented. Without this optimism, scientific improvement in the field of resuscitation might not have been achieved.

Impact of prehospital mode of transport after severe injury

There is ongoing controversy about the relative effectiveness of air medical versus ground transportation for severely injured patients. In some systems, air medical crews may provide a higher level of care but may require longer transport times. We sought to evaluate the impact of mode of transport on outcome based on analysis of data from two randomized trials of prehospital hypertonic resuscitation. Injured patients were enrolled based on prehospital evidence of hypovolemic shock (systolic blood pressure ≤70 mm Hg or systolic blood pressure = 71-90 mm Hg with heart rate ≥108 bpm) or severe traumatic brain injury (TBI; Glasgow Coma Scale score ≤8). Patient demographics, injury severity, and physiology were compared based on mode of transport. Multivariate logistic regression was used to determine the impact of mode of transport on 24-hour and 28-day survival for all patients and 6-month extended Glasgow Outcome Scale for patients with TBI, adjusting for differences in injury severity. Included were 2,049 patients, of which 703 (34%) were transported by air. Patients transported by air were more severely injured (mean Injury Severity Score, 30.3 vs. 22.8; p < 0.001), more likely to be in the TBI cohort (70% vs. 55.4%; p < 0.001), and more likely blunt mechanism (94.0% vs. 78.1%; p < 0.001). Patients transported by air had higher rates of prehospital intubation (81% vs. 36%; p < 0.001), received more intravenous fluids (mean 1.3 L vs. 0.8 L; p < 0.001), and had longer prehospital times (mean 76.1 minutes vs. 43.5 minutes; p < 0.001). Adjusted analysis revealed no significant impact of mode of transport on survival or 6-month neurologic outcome (air transport-28-day survival: odds ratio, 1.11; 95% confidence interval, 0.82-1.51; 6-month extended Glasgow Outcome Scale score ≤4: odds ratio, 0.94; 95% confidence interval, 0.68-1.31). There was no difference in the adjusted clinical outcome according to mode of transport. However, air medical transported more severely injured patients with more advanced life support procedures and longer prehospital time. III.

Helicopter rescue operations involving winching of an emergency physician

ObjectiveWe sought to study the epidemiologic and medical aspects of alpine helicopter rescue operations involving the winching of an emergency physician to the victim. MethodsWe retrospectively reviewed the medical and operational reports of a single helicopter-based emergency medical service. Data from 1 January 2003 to 31 December 2008 were analysed. ResultsA total of 921 patients were identified, with a male:female ratio of 2:1. There were 56 (6%) patients aged 15 or under. The median time from emergency call to helicopter take-off was 7min (IQR=5–10min). 840 (91%) patients suffered from trauma-related injuries, with falls from heights during sports activities the most frequent event. The most common injuries involved the legs (246 or 27%), head (175 or 19%), upper limbs (117 or 13%), spine (108 or 12%), and femur (66 or 7%). Only 81 (9%) victims suffered from a medical emergency, but these cases were, when compared to the trauma victims, significantly more severe according to the NACA index (p<0.001). Overall, 246 (27%) patients had a severe injury or illness, namely, a potential or overt vital threat (NACA score between 4 and 6). A total of 478 (52%) patients required administration of major analgesics: fentanyl (443 patients or 48%), ketamine (42 patients or 5%) or morphine (7 patients or 1%). The mean dose of fentanyl was 188 micrograms (range 25–750, SD 127). Major medical interventions such as administration of vasoactive drugs, intravenous perfusions of more than 1000ml of fluids, ventilation or intubation were performed on 39 (4%) patients. ConclusionsThe severity of the patients’ injuries or illnesses along with the high proportion of medical procedures performed directly on-site validates emergency physician winching for advanced life support procedures and analgesia.

(P2-12) Emergency Medical Procedures Provided by Paramedics in Prehospital Sudden Cardiac Arrest — Analysis of the Example of District Siedlce (Poland)

IntroductionThe organization of the medical emergency system in Poland has been revised substantially since 2007. Rescuers were able to perform certain life-saving procedures and to administrate some drugs without doctor's order.AimThe efficiency of advanced life support (ALS) performed by emergency medical service with paramedics (without doctor) was assessed for cases of cardiac arrest (CA) in prehospital conditions. It was correlated with quantity of basic life support (BLS) procedures undertaken by casual witnesses and with the knowledge of automated external defibrillation (AED) in people without medical training.MethodForty-eight cases of CA were analyzed, which took place in District Siedlce in the first three quarters of 2009. Data were collected retrospectively, from medical reports. Advanced life support procedures adhering to the guidelines of the European Resuscitation Council were investigated in terms of pharmaco-and electrotherapy. Additionally, the study of the knowledge of AED was conducted through a survey, in which 103 randomly selected persons without medical training took part.ResultsAdrenaline and amiodarone were given by paramedics correctly in 94% of patients. Defibrillation was performed in all patients with documented ventricular fibrillation or pulseless ventricular tachycardia valid values of energy. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation was successful in 33% of the cases. At the scene of the accident BLS was performed before the arrival of ambulance in only 7% of cases. Of the respondents, 41% (non-medic) could use the AED safely, but only 13% of them knew the guidelines for using defibrillators.ConclusionsParamedics were properly implementing ALS procedures for prehospital CA. The percent of effective cardiopulmonary resuscitations may improve the early implementation of BLS, including the use of AED. It is necessary to educate people without medical training in this field.

Incidence and outcomes of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest with shock-resistant ventricular fibrillation: Data from a large population-based cohort

Background The increasing survival rates after out-of-hospital cardiac arrests (OHCA) are due mainly to improvements in the first 3 steps of the chain of survival. The aim of this study was to describe the temporal trends of OHCA incidence and outcomes with shock-resistant ventricular fibrillation (VF) requiring advanced life support procedures. Methods All our subjects were persons aged 18 years or more who had suffered OHCA of presumed cardiac etiology, were witnessed by bystanders, treated by emergency medical service (EMS), and had VF as initial rhythm. Our study was conducted in Osaka Prefecture, Japan from May 1, 1998 through December 31, 2006. Data were collected by EMS personnel using an Utstein-style database. We evaluated the temporal trends of incidence and outcomes of shock-resistant VF. Results During the study period, there were 8782 witnessed OHCA cases of presumed cardiac etiology. Among them, 1733 had VF as an initial rhythm, 392 of whom were shock-resistant. While the age-adjusted annual incidence of witnessed VF increased from 2.0 to 3.3 per 100,000 inhabitants, that of shock-resistant VF underwent little change during the study period. The proportion of shock-resistant VF among witnessed VF decreased from 37.0% to 19.0%. Neurologically intact 1-month survival rates after shock-resistant VF remained low at 5.6% even in 2006. Conclusion The actual incidence of shock-resistant VF has remained unchanged, and their outcomes continue to be dismal. Further efforts are required to reduce the mortality rates of such shock-resistant VF to achieve improved survival after OHCA.

Advanced medical life support procedures in vitally compromised children by a helicopter emergency medical service

BackgroundTo determine the advanced life support procedures provided by an Emergency Medical Service (EMS) and a Helicopter Emergency Medical Service (HEMS) for vitally compromised children. Incidence and success rate of several procedures were studied, with a distinction made between procedures restricted to the HEMS-physician and procedures for which the HEMS is more experienced than the EMS.MethodsProspective study of a consecutive group of children examined and treated by the HEMS of the eastern region of the Netherlands. Data regarding type of emergency, physiological parameters, NACA scores, treatment, and 24-hour survival were collected and subsequently analysed.ResultsOf the 558 children examined and treated by the HEMS on scene, 79% had a NACA score of IV-VII. 65% of the children had one or more advanced life support procedures restricted to the HEMS and 78% of the children had one or more procedures for which the HEMS is more experienced than the EMS. The HEMS intubated 38% of all children, and 23% of the children intubated and ventilated by the EMS needed emergency correction because of potentially lethal complications. The HEMS provided the greater part of intraosseous access, as the EMS paramedics almost exclusively reserved this procedure for children in cardiopulmonary resuscitation. The EMS provided pain management only to children older than four years of age, but a larger group was in need of analgesia upon arrival of the HEMS, and was subsequently treated by the HEMS.ConclusionsThe Helicopter Emergency Medical Service of the eastern region of the Netherlands brings essential medical expertise in the field not provided by the emergency medical service. The Emergency Medical Service does not provide a significant quantity of procedures obviously needed by the paediatric patient.

Prehospital Emergency Care in Hungary: What Can We Learn from the Past?

In Hungary, prehospital emergency medical services are provided by the National Ambulance Service. The 60(th) anniversary of the National Ambulance Service provides a good opportunity to give an overview of the current trends in prehospital emergency medical care in Hungary. In this report, a description of the organizational structure and the latest developments in the National Ambulance Service are described with the intention to highlight future directions in emergency medical services, as well as the influence of international trends in emergency patient care. In Hungary, the ambulance cars are staffed by two or three crew members trained in rescue, stabilization of the patient's status, transport, and advanced care of traumatic and medical emergencies. There are three major levels of care provided by ambulance personnel: a basic level ambulance crew (Emergency Medical Technician Unit), a second level (Ambulance Officer Unit), and the highest level (Emergency Physician Unit). The personnel on the latter two units are trained in all aspects of Basic Life Support and Advanced Life Support procedures for prehospital emergency care. Following the latest international developments in medical rescue devices and guidelines, all staff are retrained yearly. Recently, private services for transportation for non-acute illnesses have been introduced, allowing the National Ambulance Service to concentrate on emergencies only. Although the Hungarian Ambulance Service has a very long and meaningful past and a respected professional development, new challenges facing prehospital emergency care are inevitable and continuous development is necessary.

The ability of Lithuanian ambulance services to provide first medical aid in trauma cases

To evaluate the ability of country ambulance services to provide first medical aid in trauma cases. A survey of chiefs of emergency medicine service was performed in October-November 2005, in which 34 of the 59 institutions (58%) were participating. The questionnaire presented questions concerning physical and human resources, performance values, and system configuration. The study has shown that emergency medicine service operates in radius of 23 km, each team providing service for about 40,000 inhabitants. Taking into consideration distance and average on-scene time values, emergency medicine service is capable to render the first medical aid within so-called "golden hour" in case the accident is reported immediately. The physical resources are not quite complete. Not all the cars are equipped with essential first aid measures. Among more rarely found resources are vacuum pumps, intubation sets, defibrillators, vacuum splints, back immobilization devices, and hammock immobilization devices. There are less mentioned resources than working teams and even more than two times less than emergency cars at all. Two-thirds of the operating emergency medicine services do not provide advanced life support procedures. The evaluation of theoretical/practical ability to provide some important medical procedures used in emergency medical care showed that medical staff quite often fails to perform defibrillation, intubation, and pleural cavity drainage. Country ambulance service network configuration according to area under service, number of people served, and response frequency comply with the requirement set. The ambulance vehicles lack complete set up as well as some important supplies. Only rarely the staff is skilled enough to perform such advanced life support procedures as intubation, defibrillation, and pleural drainage.

Flight crew skills requirements for advanced life support interventions: Reality and solutions

Introduction: In the past 15 years, several prospective trials have called into question the benefit of several advanced life support (ALS) procedures in the pre-hospital management of critically injured patients. The benefit controversy appears to be centered around the proficiency of pre-hospital personnel's technical skills based on present experience models (live, dry lab and didactic), and their appropriate clinical application. As with other emergency medical services, there is a lack of standardization of education requirements within the air medical transport community, especially with respect to an advanced skill maintenance program.

The Effect of Bunker Gear on Physician Performance of Advanced Life Support Procedures

The Effect of Bunker Gear on Physician Performance of Advanced Life Support Procedures

Paramedic helicopter emergency service in rural Finland - do benefits justify the cost?

The benefit of the Helicopter Emergency Medical Service (HEMS) is not well documented. The aim of our study was to investigate the potential health benefits of HEMS, and their relation to cost of the service in a rural area in Finland. We also evaluated whether the patient benefit is due to early Advanced Life Support (ALS) procedures performed on-scene, or due to rapid transport of patients to definitive care. We reviewed all helicopter missions during 1 year (1999). Based on given prehospital care, we divided these missions into various categories. At the time of discharge, in-hospital records were reviewed for patients who received prehospital ALS care in order to estimate the potential benefit of HEMS. There were 588 missions. In 40% (n = 233/588), the mission was aborted. ALS care was given on-scene to 206 patients. It was estimated that in this group lives of three patients (1.5%) were saved, and 42 (20%) patients, mostly with cardiovascular disease, otherwise benefited from the service. The majority (84%) of the patients benefited from on-scene ALS procedures only. The cost for beneficial mission was euro 28 444. A minority of all patients did benefit from HEMS. Benefit was related to early ALS care and the cost per beneficial mission was 28 444.

P REHOSPITAL T RAUMA C ARE IN T EHRAN : P OTENTIAL A REAS FOR I MPROVEMENT

Objective. To evaluate the existing prehospital trauma care system in Tehran, Iran. Methods. This was a cross-sectional study in which all trauma-related dispatches of Tehran's emergency medical services (EMS) system were evaluated-during 18 randomly selected days from September 22, 1997, to March 17, 1998. Emergency medical technicians completed a checklist for all trauma cases, and the criteria for this performance evaluation were different partial time intervals in each dispatch and different procedures that had been done for the patients. Results. The means of the “dispatch-beginning-to-scene-arrival interval” and “scene-arrival-to-scene-leaving interval” were 10 and 18 minutes, respectively (median: 10 minutes, range 0-55 minutes for the first; and median: 15 minutes, range 1-165 minutes for the second time interval). The mean of the “dispatch-beginning-to-hospital-arrival interval” was 45 minutes (median: 42 minutes, range: 5-170 minutes). Among advanced life support (ALS) procedures that include cardiac monitoring, intratracheal intubation, intravenous fluid therapy, nasogastric tube insertion, defibrillation, and tracheostomy, only intravenous fluid therapy had been administered for the patients. The patients, however, had received different kinds of basic life support (BLS) that include initial evaluation, bleeding control, oxygen administration, splinting, suction use, and cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Conclusion. The prolonged response, scene, and dispatch-beginning-to-hospital-arrival intervals compared with those for a developed EMS system indicate one potential area for improvement. Furthermore, significant differences in the field of prehospital care (conducting no ALS procedure) showed that ambulance equipment and training of EMS personnel are two other potential sites for improvement.

Were there enough physicians in an emergency department in the affected area after a major earthquake? An analysis of the Taiwan Chi-Chi earthquake in 1999

Study Objective: The purpose of this study was to evaluate physician manpower and mobilization in an urban emergency department receiving patients after a major earthquake. Methods: Patient charts were reviewed. The workload of physicians was assessed semiquantitatively before and after a major earthquake. The physicians' mobilization in the postearthquake emergency response was assessed by using a confidential questionnaire. Results: In the 3 days after the earthquake, 566 patients with earthquake-related illnesses or injuries were sent to the urban ED. Three hundred one (53.2%) patients arrived within the initial 10 hours. In the initial hours, there was no significant difference between the number of patients per physician per hour before and after the earthquake. Workloads of wound treatment and advanced life support procedures were significantly higher after the earthquake compared with before the earthquake, during the first to sixth hour and second to fifth hour, respectively. Sixty-five percent of the hospital's physicians did not assist in either the ED or in any other parts of the hospital in the initial 6 hours after the earthquake. Conclusion: The number of physicians in the ED was insufficient in the initial hours after the earthquake because of the sudden influx of a large number of patients. Future disaster planning must address the issue of physicians' behavior with regard to their priorities immediately after a major earthquake and include greater provision for efficient mobilization of physicians. [Chen W-K, Cheng Y-C, Ng K-C, Hung J-J, Chuang C-M. Were there enough physicians in an emergency department in the affected area after a major earthquake? An analysis of the Taiwan Chi-Chi earthquake in 1999. Ann Emerg Med. November 2001;38:556-561.]

F EASIBILITY OF P ARAMEDIC T REATMENT AND R EFERRAL OF M INOR I LLNESSES AND I NJURIES

Background. Approximately 40% of Hennepin County Medical Center's (HCMC's) ambulance runs are for minor medical conditions as defined by billing criteria [“ALS minor,” i.e., no advanced life support (ALS) procedures done in the field]. Current metropolitan guidelines mandate that all such patients must be transported to a hospital unless they refuse this service. It has been proposed that some patients with minor medical conditions could be better served by treatment in the field by paramedics and referred to a clinic or hospital for early follow-up care. It is proposed that this approach would save costs and improve paramedic availability for patients with more serious conditions. Objective. To evaluate the feasibility and safety of implementing such a program by identifying high-volume, low-complexity groupings of cases. Such high-volume, low-complexity cases would serve as the topics for curriculum development for paramedic training in field treatment and referral. Methods. Data were obtained from ambulance run sheets and emergency department (ED) records for all patients transported by the HCMC ambulance service in 1996 who were covered by the Metropolitan Health Plan (MHP) and who were categorized for billing purposes as “ALS minor” transports. The data included demographic information, vital signs, presenting problem, diagnoses in the ED, and procedures, laboratory studies, or x-rays done in the ED. Patients were classified as “potentially treatable” in the field if they were treated and discharged from the ED without undergoing any procedures or diagnostic studies. Patients who required more extensive evaluation in the ED, or who were admitted, were classified as likely too “complex” to be treated at the scene and then referred for early follow-up. The data were analyzed to find the most common presenting problems and the numbers, characteristics, and dispositions of “potentially treatable” and “complex” patients in each group. This information was used to determine what, if any, types of patients could potentially be treated safely and effectively according to this scheme. Results. The study group comprised 1,103 patients, representing 127 different presenting medical problems. There were 523 (47%) “potentially treatable” patients and 580 (53%) “complex” patients. The 127 medical problems were grouped and the 15 most common presenting problem groups were identified. Within these groups there was no single medical problem with high volume. Each of these 15 most common problem groups contained a substantial proportion of “complex” patients, ranging from 24% to 100%. Conclusions. None of the 15 most frequently encountered problem groups consisted of a high enough proportion of “potentially treatable” cases to serve as a high-volume, low-complexity category for paramedic treatment in the field with early follow-up. Without any identified high-volume, low-complexity categories, a treatment and referral program as proposed in this article would require a substantial investment in development of appropriate criteria and in training paramedics to apply the criteria for numerous clinical entities. This would limit any cost saving, and require great care to avoid compromising patient safety accompanied by substantial professional liability exposure.