National Resuscitation Council Research Articles

First-response treatment after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest: a survey of current practices across 29 countries in Europe

BackgroundIn Europe, survival rates after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) vary widely. Presence/absence and differences in implementation of systems dispatching First Responders (FR) in order to arrive before Emergency Medical Services (EMS) may contribute to this variation. A comprehensive overview of the different types of FR-systems used across Europe is lacking.MethodsA mixed-method survey and information retrieved from national resuscitation councils and national EMS services were used as a basis for an inventory. The survey was sent to 51 OHCA experts across 29 European countries.ResultsForty-seven (92%) OHCA experts from 29 countries responded to the survey. More than half of European countries had at least one region with a FR-system. Four categories of FR types were identified: (1) firefighters (professional/voluntary); (2) police officers; (3) citizen-responders; (4) others including off-duty EMS personnel (nurses, medical doctors), taxi drivers. Three main roles for FRs were identified: (a) complementary to EMS; (b) part of EMS; (c) instead of EMS. A wide variation in FR-systems was observed, both between and within countries.ConclusionsPolicies relating to FRs are commonly implemented on a regional level, leading to a wide variation in FR-systems between and within countries. Future research should focus on identifying the FR-systems that most strongly influence survival. The large variation in local circumstances across regions suggests that it is unlikely that there will be a ‘one-size fits all’ FR-system for Europe, but examining the role of FRs in the Chain of Survival is likely to become an increasingly important aspect of OHCA research.

The Contribution of Taiwan in International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation Consensus on Science and Treatment Recommendation 2015 (ILCOR CoSTR 2015).

Taiwan has begun its board certification of emergency medicine since 1998. The scholars have also devoted themselves to research in the related fi elds including resuscitation for decades. On the other hand, International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation (ILCOR) was established to build up international expert consensus on resuscitation science in 1992. The National Resuscitation Council of Taiwan (NRCT) is a multidisciplinary organization and becomes one of the founding members of the Resuscitation Council of Asia (RCA) in 2005, whereas the RCA has also become currently the final regional member of ILCOR. Under these international platforms, the experts from Taiwan have significant contributions in establishment of evidence review and clinical guidelines on resuscitation such as ILCOR Consensus on Science and Treatment Recommendation (CoSTR). This brief review will introduce explicitly these important Taiwan investigations cited in ILCOR CoSTR 2015.

The National Resuscitation Council, Singapore, and 34 years of resuscitation training: 1983 to 2017.

Training in the modern form of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) started in Singapore in 1983. For the first 15 years, the expansion of training programmes was mainly owing to the interest of a few individuals. Public training in the skill was minimal. In an area of medical care where the greatest opportunity for benefit lies in employing core resuscitation skills in the prehospital environment, very little was being done to address such a need. In 1998, a group of physicians, working together with the Ministry of Health, set up the National Resuscitation Council (NRC). Over the years, the NRC has created national guidelines on resuscitation and reviewed them at five-yearly intervals. Provider training manuals are now available for most programmes. The NRC has set up an active accreditation system for monitoring and maintaining standards of life support training. This has led to a large increase in the number of training centres, as well as recognition and adoption of the council's guidelines in the country. The NRC has also actively promoted the use of bystander CPR through community-based programmes, resulting in a rise in the number of certified providers. Improving the chain of survival, through active community-based training programmes, will likely lead to more lives being saved from sudden cardiac arrest.

Singapore Neonatal Resuscitation Guidelines 2016.

We present the revised Neonatal Resuscitation Guidelines for Singapore. The 2015 International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation Neonatal Task Force's consensus on science and treatment recommendations (2015), and guidelines from the American Heart Association and European Resuscitation Council were debated and discussed. The final recommendations of the National Resuscitation Council, Singapore, were derived after the task force had carefully reviewed the current available evidence in the literature and addressed their relevance to local clinical practice.

Advanced Life Support in Cardiac Arrest — Current Guidelines and Outstanding Investigations

The current review highlights the European Resuscitation Council 2015 and the Russian National Resuscitation Council 2015 guidelines on advanced life support. The review reflects the key elements of the in-hospital advanced life support algorithm, results of the largest modern studies and outlines promising areas of scientific development.

Limited public ability to recognise and understand the universal sign for automated external defibrillators

ObjectiveTo study if the public is able to recognise and understand the International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation (ILCOR) sign for automated external defibrillators (AEDs), and to explore how national resuscitation...

Assessment of the Quality of Basic and Expanded Resuscitative Measures in a Multifield Hospital (Simulation Course)

The survival of patients after the sudden circulatory arrest (SCA) depends not only on immediate onset of resuscitative measures, but also on their quality. The purpose of the study. The purpose is to assess the compliance of basic and expanded resuscitative measures carried out by healthcare providers in hospitals with modern national and international guidelines within the frames of a stimulation course. Materials and Methods. The research was perfomed in a multifield hospital in Moscow, in 2016. It consisted of two phases. During the first phase, within the frames of a simulation course, providers' skills in the cardiopul monary resuscitation (CPR) and chest compression (CC) technique mastership were evaluated. During the second stage, their skills in expanded CPR and ability to work as a part of resuscitation teams were assessed. During the simulation, all team activities were recorded (both audio and video); CC parameters were also registered using a CC pressure control sensor (hereinafter referred to as a sensor) and audiovisual tips. The European Resuscitation Council Guidelines for Resuscitation 2015 were used as reference criteria. The analysis was performed using the ZOLL RescueNet Code Review® software. A statistical analysis was performed using the Statistica 7.0 software (MannWhitney Utest). The data were presented as a mean, median ± 25—75 percentiles (25—75 IQR), minimum and maximum values. The difference was considered significant at P<0.05. Results. Test results of most healthcare providers were unsatisfactory when the CPR was performed without sensors and audiovisual tips: the percentage of target CCs was not more than 10% in 72% of providers (n=18). When the CPR was performed with sensors and audiovisual tips regulating the CC quality, the percentage of target CCs was 65.7%. i.e. it was significantly higher than that during the CPR without the sensor and the tips (P=0.0000). While only one provider was able to perform the target CC without the sensor and the tips (4%), 12 providers were able to do it with the sensor (48%) (P=0.0000). In all resuscitation teams, there was a lack in compliance with the ECR 2015 guidelines for expanded CPR, as well as ineffective team work was revealed. Chest compressions did not comply with recommended parameters; pauses before and after defibrillator discharge were too long. In most cases, there was hyperventilation during the artificial lung ventilation. The safety principle was not followed by one of resuscitation teams during the defibrillation procedure. Conclusion. The obtained data demonstrate that healthcare providers have poor skills in basic and expanded CPR. Therefore, it is important to train and retrain healthcare providers in basic and expanded CPR within the frames of simulation training courses on a regular basis (in accordance with European Resuscitation Council Guidelines for Resuscitation 2015 and National Resuscitation Council). During training, the use of technical means of monitoring of the chest compression quality control in CPR should be warranted. It is important to arrange regular retraining in order to keep the skills uptodate, as well as regular debriefings on the CPR quality after each case of resuscitation measures in a hospital.

Analysis of efficacy of the European Resuscitation Council BLS/AED courses in Russia

The Russian National Resuscitation Council (RusNRC) has been running the European Resuscitation Council (ERC) BLS/AED courses since 2008. The real-life efficacy of these courses, i.e. in what degree the participants of the provider and instructor courses implemented the BLS/AED algorithm and ERC teaching methods in their practice, has never been analyzed.

AP057 Implementation of 2010 ILCOR CPR guidelines in Singapore by National Resuscitation Council in Singapore (NRCS)

AP057 Implementation of 2010 ILCOR CPR guidelines in Singapore by National Resuscitation Council in Singapore (NRCS)

The Russian national resuscitation council: Current state and outlook

The Russian national resuscitation council: Current state and outlook

A National Resuscitation Council

The Sri Lankan Journal of Anaesthesiology is the official journal of the College of Anaesthesiologists of Sri Lanka. It publishes clinical investigations, research articles, audits, case reports, review articles and CME articles relating to anaesthesiology, critical care and pain. It is published bi annually in January and June. Sri Lankan Journal of Anaesthesiology is included on DOAJ and Scopus.

A reference automated external defibrillator provider course for Europe

Scientific evidence is scarce in relation to the effectiveness of different methods of teaching automated external defibrillator (AED) use to laypeople. A reference course is needed in order to test new courses or methods against a comparative standard. To propose a reference AED provider course that can be used as a comparator when testing new courses or teaching methods. All national resuscitation councils that are represented in the European Resuscitation Council were sent a questionnaire about the AED provider courses run by them or under their auspices. Sixteen national resuscitation councils responded to the enquiry. Apart from the individual course timetables, there was remarkable consistency amongst the European countries as regards organisation, structure, content and methods. A reference AED provider course for laypeople, based on a synthesis of existing European courses, is suggested as a tool for research. Prior completion of a basic life support provider course is mandatory. Course duration is 2 h 45 min (excluding breaks), with 1 h 40 min practice time for the participants, 25 min for theory, 20 min for practical demonstrations by the instructor and 20 min for introduction, discussion and closure. A manual is distributed at the start of the course. The ratio of instructors to participants is one to six. Lectures are interactive between the instructor and the class. AED use is practised in groups of six participants. Participants prove their competency by means of a formal test that simulates a cardiac arrest scenario. Using this course as a comparator during research into the methodology of AED teaching would provide a reference against which other courses could be tested.

A reference basic life support provider course for Europe

Good scientific evidence is scarce in relation to the effectiveness of different methods of teaching basic life support (BLS) to the general public. In order to test new courses or methods a reference course is needed as a comparative standard. To propose a reference BLS provider course that can be used as a comparator when testing new courses or teaching methods. All national resuscitation councils that are represented in the European Resuscitation Council (ERC) were sent a questionnaire about the BLS provider courses run by them or under their auspices. Sixteen national resuscitation councils responded to the enquiry. Their responses regarding organisation, structure, content and methods of the courses were found to be remarkably consistent between European countries. Few issues had a high variance. Based on the responses received, a reference BLS provider course for lay persons is suggested as a tool for research. The course duration is 3 h 15 min (excluding breaks), with 2 h 15 min practice time for the participants, 30 min for theory and 20 min for practical demonstrations by the instructor. A manual is distributed at the start of the course. The ratio of instructors to participants is one to six. The lectures are interactive between the instructor and the participants. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is practised on manikins in groups of six. A formal BLS scenario test may be held at the end of the course as part of a research study or if the candidates so request. It is suggested that by using this reference course during research into lay person BLS teaching, it will be easier to make comparisons between different studies.

National Resuscitation Council

National Resuscitation Council

Cardiac arrest and resuscitation

Abstract Cardiopulmonary resuscitation is an essential skill for all health care professionals, and this review will outline some of the salient points of this large topic. However, it will assume prior knowledge, and focus on in-hospital cardiopulmonary resuscitation and peri-arrest arrhythmias. There have been a number of evidence-based changes to the management of cardiac arrest over the last three years and these are included. The author urges the reader to complete an Advanced Life Support course organized under the guidance of the relevant national resuscitation council.

Cardiac arrest and resuscitation

Cardiopulmonary resuscitation is an essential skill for all health care professionals, and this review will outline some of the salient points of this large topic. However, it will assume prior knowledge, and focus on in-hospital cardiopulmonary resuscitation and peri-arrest arrhythmias. Space limits the scope of this review, and the authors urge the reader to complete an Advanced Life Support course organized under the guidance of the relevant national resuscitation council (see Further Reading).

Consensus on Resuscitation Science &amp; Treatment Recommendations (Costr)

Many would be aware that for the last several years the ARC, as a member of the International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation (ILCOR), has been working on the developing the CoSTR document. This document will represent the most update evidence based evaluation of the resuscitation science. The purpose of the CoSTR document is to identify the science on which the various National Resuscitation Councils are able to develop their guidelines. This approach recognises the international nature of the resuscitation science but acknowledges the need for nationally developed resuscitation guidelines.

Cardiac Arrest and Resuscitation

Cardiopulmonary resuscitation is an essential skill for all health care professionals, and this review will outline some of the salient points of this large topic. However, it will assume prior knowledge, and focus on in-hospital cardiopulmonary resuscitation and periarrest arrhythmias. Space limits the scope of this review, and the authors urge the reader to complete an Advanced Life Support course organized under the guidance of the relevant national resuscitation council (see Further Reading).

Recommendations on resuscitation of babies at birth

The International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation (ILCOR), in its 1997 advisory statement on paediatric life support [ 1 International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation (ILCOR)-Advisory statement on Paediatric Life Support. Resuscitation 1997;34:115–128. Google Scholar ], recognised the need to develop consistent international guidelines to be promulgated by national resuscitation councils and associations. These guidelines, known as advisory statements, are based on specific data (outcome validity), but in the absence of specific data, were developed and supported on the basis of common sense (face validity) or ease of teaching or skill retention (construct validity). The ILCOR advisory statement [ 1 International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation (ILCOR)-Advisory statement on Paediatric Life Support. Resuscitation 1997;34:115–128. Google Scholar ]makes specific recommendations for basic resuscitation of the new born. These guidelines have developed and enhanced these concepts and extended them into advanced life support. They are an extension of the guidelines already published by the ERC [ 2 European Resuscitation Council. Guidelines for basic life support. Resuscitation 1992;24:103–110. Br Med J 1993;306:1587–1589. Google Scholar , 3 European Resuscitation Council. Guidelines for advanced life support. Resuscitation 1992;24:111–121. Br Med J 1993;306:1589–1593. Google Scholar , 4 European Resuscitation Council. Guidelines for paediatric life support Resuscitation 1994;27:91–106. Br Med J 1994;308:1349–1355. Google Scholar ]and take into account recommendations made by other national [ 5 Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health. Resuscitation of babies at birth. BMJ Publishing Group, 1997. Google Scholar , 6 British Paediatric Association. Neonatal resuscitation-the report of a BPA working party. British Paediatric Association 1993, London. Google Scholar ]and international [ 7 American Heart Association. Neonatal advanced life support. JAMA 1996;255:2969–2973. Google Scholar ]organisations.