Prehospital Situations Research Articles

Assessment of Public Knowledge and Attitudes Towards First Aid in the Al Qassim Region, Saudi Arabia: A Cross-Sectional Study

Accidents, injuries, and medical emergencies can occur unpredictably, with a significant proportion of fatalities in pre-hospital situations resulting from car accidents. Shockingly, about 39% of these fatalities could have been prevented with improved pre-hospital care. This study aimed to assess attitudes and knowledge regarding first aid among 408 individuals through a survey. Participants were surveyed on the importance of first aid learning, advising others to take first aid courses, fear of emergency situations, previous course attendance, and knowledge of specific first aid procedures. Results showed a strong consensus on the importance of first aid training, but many expressed fear of emergencies hindering their aid efforts. Barriers to course attendance included lack of time, unwillingness, and course unavailability. Participants showed varying knowledge levels, correctly identifying the Red Crescent Authority's emergency number but showing discrepancies in appropriate first aid actions for scenarios like car accidents and controlling bleeding. These findings underscore the importance of promoting first aid education and addressing barriers to course attendance. Tailored approaches may be necessary to address specific fears and improve knowledge of first aid procedures, ensuring that individuals are better equipped to respond effectively in emergency situations. By enhancing first aid training and addressing barriers, we can potentially reduce the number of preventable fatalities in pre-hospital settings, improving overall outcomes for individuals in need of emergency care.

Physician Involvement in High-Threat Prehospital Situations

Physician Involvement in High-Threat Prehospital Situations

Emerging hemostatic materials for non-compressible hemorrhage control.

Non-compressible hemorrhage control is a big challenge in both civilian life and the battlefield, causing a majority of deaths among all traumatic injury mortalities. Unexpected non-compressible bleeding not only happens in pre-hospital situations but also leads to a high risk of death during surgical processes throughout in-hospital treatment. Hemostatic materials for pre-hospital treatment or surgical procedures for non-compressible hemorrhage control have drawn more and more attention in recent years and several commercialized products have been developed. However, these products have all shown non-negligible limitations and researchers are focusing on developing more effective hemostatic materials for non-compressible hemorrhage control. Different hemostatic strategies (physical, chemical and biological) have been proposed and different forms (sponges/foams, sealants/adhesives, microparticles/powders and platelet mimics) of hemostatic materials have been developed based on these strategies. A summary of the requirements, state-of-the-art studies and commercial products of non-compressible hemorrhage-control materials is provided in this review with particular attention on the advantages and limitations of their emerging forms, to give a clear understanding of the progress that has been made in this area and the promising directions for future generations.

Portable Medical Suction and Aspirator Devices: Are the Design and Performance Standards Relevant?

Airway clearance refers to the clearing of any airway blockage caused due to foreign objects such as mud, gravel, and biomaterials such as blood, vomit, or teeth fragments using the technology of choice, portable suction devices. Currently available devices are either too heavy and bulky to be carried, or insufficiently powered to be useful despite being in accordance with the ISO 10079-1 standards. When applied to portable suction, the design and testing standards lack clinical relevancy, which is evidenced by how available portable suction devices are sparingly used in pre-hospital situations. Lack of clinical relevancy despite being in accordance with design/manufacturing standards arise due to little if any collaboration between those developing clinical standards and the bodies that maintain design and manufacturing standards. An updated set of standards is required that accurately reflects evidence-based requirements and specifications, which should promote valid, rational, and relevant engineering designs and manufacturing standards in consideration of the unique scenarios facing prehospital casualty care. This paper aims to critically review the existing standards for portable suction devices and propose modifications based on the evidence and requirements, especially for civilian prehospital and combat casualty care situations.

Remote real-time supervision of prehospital point-of-care ultrasound: a feasibility study

BackgroundAlthough prehospital point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) is gaining in importance, its rapid interpretation remains challenging in prehospital emergency situations. The technical development of remote real-time supervision potentially offers the possibility to support emergency medicine providers during prehospital emergency ultrasound. The aim of this study was to assess the feasibility of live data transmission and supervision of prehospital POCUS in an urban environment and so to improve patients’ safety.MethodsEmergency doctors with moderate ultrasound experience performed prehospital POCUS in emergency cases (n = 24) such as trauma, acute dyspnea or cardiac shock using the portable ultrasound device Lumify™. The ultrasound examination was remotely transmitted to an emergency ultrasound expert in the clinic for real-time supervision via a secure video and audio connection. Technical feasibility as well as quality of communication and live stream were analysed.ResultsPrehospital POCUS with remote real-time supervision was successfully performed in 17 patients (71%). In 3 cases, the expert was not available on time and in 1 case remote data transmission was not possible due to connection problems. In 3 cases tele-supervision was restricted to video only and no verbal communication was possible via the device itself due to power saving mode of the tablet.ConclusionRemote real-time supervision of prehospital POCUS in an urban environment is feasible most of the time with excellent image and communication quality.Trial registration: ClinicalTrials Number NCT04612816.

Comparison of supine and upright face-to-face cadaver intubation

IntroductionOptimal patient positioning during intubation improves laryngeal view and first pass success, as well as reducing incidence of hypoxia. In certain pre-hospital situations, it may be impractical or impossible for the operator to stand behind the patient. ObjectiveWe compared intubation in the supine and upright face-to-face positions, with regards to time to intubate and the view of the vocal cords obtained. MethodsThis was a pilot comparison study. One investigator intubated 25 cadavers with the use of a bougie in the supine and upright face-to-face positions. Each attempt was recorded on a video laryngoscope. Recordings of each attempt were reviewed by five blinded emergency physicians, who allocated both a percentage of glottic opening (POGO) score and Cormack-Lehane (CL) grade. Time to insertion of the endotracheal tube (ETT) through the vocal cords was measured from the video. ResultsThe median intubation time was 1 s longer for upright cadavers than for supine cadavers, with greater variation in intubation times for upright cadavers compared with supine cadavers (IQR 9.0 vs 3.5 excluding the outlier case). The mean POGO score (averaged across raters) was 4.7% lower for upright intubation attempts (excluding the outlier case) with a moderate-to-good degree of inter-rater reliability, however this difference was not statistically significant. The median CL grade (averaged across raters) was 0.2 higher for upright intubation attempts (excluding the outlier case) with a poor-to-moderate degree of inter-rater reliability, and this difference was also not statistically significant. ConclusionsThis pilot study suggests that upright, face-to-face intubation may be clinically similar to supine intubation in terms of time to intubation and difficulty. Further studies utilising a larger number of operators and cadaver types are indicated.

The Myths of Uncontrolled Emergence Reactions and Consideration to Stop Mandatory, Protocolled Midazolam Coadministration With Ketamine.

Ketamine continues to demonstrate its utility and safety in the austere and prehospital environment, but myths persist regarding the frequency of behavioral disturbances and unpleasant reactions. These myths have led to protocolled midazolam co-administration. Properties of midazolam and other benzodiazepines have the potential to cause significant morbidity and potential mortality. Because of this risk, benzodiazepines should only be administered when the treating provider determines that the patient's symptoms warrant it. We also present evidence that agitation and altered mental status (AMS) encountered with ketamine occurs during titration of lower pain control regimens and is much less likely to occur with higher doses. As such, in most prehospital situations, the treatment for this "incomplete dissociation" is more ketamine, not the addition of a potentially dangerous benzodiazepine.

The lethal triad of hemorrhage

Coagulopathy, acidosis and hypothermia form the lethal triad in trauma patients with acute hemorrhage. The prevention of this chain reaction relies on an adapted management from the first care in pre-hospital situation: rapid arrest of bleeding, fight against hypothermia, limited vascular filling with an early recourse to vasoactive amines. Pre-hospital transfusion is still rare, whereas in thehospital, an adapted transfusion strategy can wait for or support a surgical orradiological hemostasis procedure.

Opportunities and Risks of Resuscitation Attempts in Nursing Homes.

Data supporting decision-making regarding cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) in German nursing homes is insufficient. A retrospective evaluation of pre-hospital CPR was carried out with data from the German Resuscitation Registry (Deutsches Reanimationsregister) for the years 2011-2018. Patients under age 65 were excluded, as were patients from districts in which long-term data was available for less than 60% of patients. Subgroups were analyzed based on age and certain prehospital situations; patients treated outside nursing homes were used for comparison. The study group consisted of 2900 patients, whose mean age was 83.7 years (standard deviation, 7.5 years). 1766 (60.9%) were women and 1134 (39.1%) were men. 118 patients (4.0%) were discharged alive, including 64 (2.2%) with a cerebral performance category (CPC) of 1 or 2, 30 (1.0%) with an unknown CPC, and 24 (0.8%) with a CPC of 3 or 4. 902 patients (31.1%) died in the hospital, including five (0.2%) who died more than 30 days after resuscitation, 279 (9.6%) between 24 hours and 30 days, and 618 (21.3%) within 24 hours. 1880 patients (64.8%) died at the site of attempted resuscitation. In 1056 cases (36.4%), CPR was initiated before the arrival of the emergency medical services. In the "initially shockable" subgroup, 13 of 208 patients (6.3%) were discharged alive with a CPC of 1 or 2. CPR can lead to a good neurological outcome in rare cases even when carried out in a nursing home. The large percentage of CPR attempts that were initiated only after a delay indicates that nursing home staff may often be uncertain how to proceed. Uncertainty among caregivers points to a potential for advance care planning.

Validation of the mTICCS Score as a Useful Tool for the Early Prediction of a Massive Transfusion in Patients with a Traumatic Hemorrhage.

The modified Trauma-Induced Coagulopathy Clinical Score (mTICCS) presents a new scoring system for the early detection of the need for a massive transfusion (MT). While validated in a large trauma cohort, the comparison of mTICCS to established scoring systems is missing. This study therefore validated the ability of six scoring systems to stratify patients at risk for an MT at an early stage after trauma. A dataset of severely injured patients (ISS ≥ 16) derived from the database of a level I trauma center (2010–2015) was used. Scoring systems assessed were Trauma-Associated Severe Hemorrhage (TASH) score, Prince of Wales Hospital (PWH) score, Larson score, Assessment of Blood Consumption (ABC) score, Emergency Transfusion Score (ETS), and mTICCS. Demographics, diagnostic data, mechanism of injury, injury pattern (graded by AIS), and outcome (length of stay, mortality) were analyzed. Scores were calculated, and the area under the receiver operating characteristic curves (AUCs) were evaluated. From the AUCs, the cut-off point with the best relationship of sensitivity-to-specificity was used to recalculate sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive values (PPV), and negative predictive values (NPV). A total of 479 patients were included; of those, blunt trauma occurred in 92.3% of patients. The mean age of patients was 49 ± 22 years with a mean ISS of 25 ± 29. The overall MT rate was 8.4% (n = 40). The TASH score had the highest overall accuracy as reflected by an AUC of 0.782 followed by the mTICCS (0.776). The ETS was the most sensitive (80%), whereas the TASH score had the highest specificity (82%) and the PWH score had the lowest (51.83%). At a cut-off > 5 points, the mTICCS score showed a sensitivity of 77.5% and a specificity of 74.03%. Compared to sophisticated systems, using a higher number of weighted variables, the newly developed mTICCS presents a useful tool to predict the need for an MT in a prehospital situation. This might accelerate the diagnosis of an MT in emergency situations. However, prospective validations are needed to improve the development process and use of scoring systems in the future.

Doing care work on the fly - exploring the unnoticed socio-emotional skills of male ambulance staff.

Prehospital ambulance work is a healthcare arena hitherto neglected by sociologists of health and illness. This is unfortunate because it is an interesting and dynamic area, and in contrast to most healthcare sectors, it is male dominated. Via ethnographic fieldwork, this article examines the particular caring practices and socio-emotional skills that ambulance staff use in practising prehospital care work. The empirical analysis outlines six recurring prehospital practices: medicine work, machine work, scene management, becalming work, communication work and bodywork. Each practice represents a different element of prehospital care practice and is best understood as a repertoire, as many different assemblages of these care practices can work effectively in prehospital situations. The article concludes that despite institutionalised blue-collar masculinity, numeric dominance and scarce formal education in ambulance psychology, male ambulance staff are generally proud and reflexive care practitioners.

Non-randomized comparative study on the efficacy of a trauma protocol in the emergency department

PurposeTrauma is a major health problem in developing countries and worldwide which requires many resources and much time in an emergency department (ED). Although Advanced Trauma Life Support (ATLS) is the gold standard, operator dependence can affect the quality of care. The objective was to identify differences in numbers and time to lifesaving interventions, investigation, ED length of stay, and mortality between an in-house protocol and conventional practice. MethodsThis was a single-center prospective non-randomized study for adult trauma patients in the ED. The trauma protocol was developed from the recent ATLS guideline. ResultsThirty-two and 41 cases were in the in-house protocol group and conventional practice group, respectively. Endotracheal intubation was done more frequently in the in-house protocol group (84% vs. 59%, p = 0.03). Intercostal drainage tube insertion was done faster (6–26 min, median 11 min vs. 15–84 min, median 35 min, p = 0.02) and pre-arrival notification by emergency medical service increased in the in-house protocol group (66% vs. 30%, p = 0.01). Hypothermia in the operating room was found only in the conventional practice group (62% vs. 0, p = 0.007) and a warm blanket was used significantly more often in the in-house protocol group (25% vs. 0, p < 0.001). A directed acyclic graph with multivariate analysis was used to identify confounders. Time to Focused Assessment Sonography in Trauma was significantly shorter in the in-house protocol group (6.5–15.6 min, median 11 min, p = 0.019). ConclusionIn addition to the ATLS guideline, the trauma protocol could improve trauma care by reduced time to investigation, early notification of the trauma team in pre-hospital situations, reduced incidence of hypothermia in the operating room, and increased use of a warm blanket.

Paramedics' perceptions and experiences of pelvic injuries in prehospital situations

Mortality rates remain high in patients with pelvic injuries despite improvements in trauma care in recent years. Pelvic injuries are associated with patients with a high Injury Severity Score (ISS); it can therefore be difficult to distinguish whether the pelvic injury was a primary causative factor of mortality. ‘Open book’ fractures carry a mortality rate as high as 50% and clinicians should therefore have a low threshold for suspecting a pelvic injury. Paramedics should follow the latest guidance found in the UK Ambulance Service Clinical Practice Guidelines ( Joint Royal Colleges Ambulance Liaison Committee (JRCALC), 2016 ; 2017 ). Additionally, log rolling and/or ‘springing’ the pelvis of a patient with a pelvic injury will cause pain, disrupt clots and distort a potential fracture. Furthermore, pelvic binders/splints can reduce the area into which a patient can haemorrhage, if they are placed correctly. Lastly, triage of these patients can be difficult and major trauma centres should be considered for definitive care.

Ketamine administration by HART paramedics: a clinical audit review

Hazardous Area Response Team (HART) paramedics from a single ambulance service Trust were trained to administer ketamine up to 0.5 mg/kg for analgesia in the pre-hospital environment. The Trust's special operations department felt that, in doing so, patient care could be improved in both hazardous areas and regular pre-hospital clinical situations. After completing a written examination and scenario training on the relevant Trust patient group directive (PGD), HART paramedics were authorised from 4 July 2016 to administer ketamine autonomously. HART paramedics then retrospectively self-reported on the details of administration using a computerised auditing application called iAuditor. Data from 1 year of usage were then collated and analysed using Microsoft Excel with the aim of identifying current practice and developing recommendations for the future. Despite encountering complications, safe independent use of ketamine was demonstrated and was shown to be an effective analgesic agent in the majority of incidents. Suggested methods for developing and improving ketamine use by paramedics are discussed. Furthermore, a number of recommendations for optimising the Trust's ketamine PGD and the iAuditor template were identified. This work has provided the foundations for future audit and research.

Prehospital point-of-care emergency ultrasound: a cohort study

BackgroundIn the prehospital situation, the diagnostic armamentarium available to the rescue physician is limited. Emergency ultrasound has proven to be a useful diagnostic tool, providing crucial information for the management of critically ill and injured patients. The proportion of performed ultrasound scans in all patients attended to by the rescue service team, the quality of the findings and the ultrasound-related changes in management approach and patient transport were evaluated.MethodsIn this prospective 18-month observational study, we documented all missions performed by rescue physicians with special training in emergency ultrasound (expert standard). These data were than analysed with regard to the ultrasound examinations. The ultrasound protocols used comprised Focussed Assessment with Sonography for Trauma (FAST), Prehospital Lung Ultrasound (PLUS) and Focused Echocardiography in Emergency Life support (FEEL). The quality of prehospital examinations was assessed by comparing the findings and diagnoses at the emergency site with those established in hospital. The changes in patient management and transport were documented using a standardized protocol.ResultsA total of 99 (18.1%) emergency ultrasound examinations were performed during 546 callouts. The most common indications for prehospital emergency ultrasound were dyspnoea (n = 38; 38.4%), during cardiac arrest (n = 17/17.2%), fall (n = 12/12.1%) and high-speed trauma (n = 11/11.1%). The combinations of ultrasound examination protocols in the trauma group (n = 31; 31.3%) were: 1. FAST+FEEL+PLUS (n = 17; 54.8%). 2. FAST+PLUS (n = 11; 35.5%) 3. FAST alone (n = 3; 9.7%). In the non-trauma group (n = 68; 68.7%), the following combinations were used: 1. FEEL+PLUS (n = 36; 52.9%), 2. FEEL alone (n = 21/30.9%). 3. PLUS alone (n = 6/8.8%) 4. FAST alone (n = 2; 2.9%) 5. FAST+FEEL+PLUS (n = 2; 2.9%). 6. FAST+FEEL (n = 1/1.5%). The emergency ultrasound findings impaired left ventricular contractile function (sensitivity 89.4%), right ventricular stress (85.7%), lung interstitial syndrome (100%), ruling out pneumothorax (specificity 100%), ruling out intraabdominal fluid (97,1%) were verified at the receiving hospital using ultrasonography, CT scan or x-rays; the prehospital diagnosis was confirmed in 90.8% of cases, the difference between the prehospital and in-hospital findings were not significant(p-values from p = 0.688 to p = 0,99). Ultrasound-related changes in patient management occurred in 49.5% of patients; in 33.3%, these were transported-related.ConclusionsEmergency ultrasound was as often used in the prehospital situation as it is in hospital. The ultrasound findings correlated well with in-hospital diagnostic results. Significant pathology changed patient-management, without prolonging the mission time.

An effective cloud based personal emergency response system by providing privacy protection for the medical data

Timely access to the emergency medical services is challenging tasks due to the increasing percentage of population. Especially prehospital emergency situations are neglected for quite a long time. The agglomeration of medical gadgets and other system applications that bridges the gap to healthcare IT systems through Internet or computer networks is placed under the domain (IoMT) Internet Of Medical Things . In this project an efficient medical data monitoring and an emergency response system has been developed. IoT in healthcare is made to bridge the gap by providing the connectivity through internet making sure that the information is secured and available on the timely access. The wireless monitoring device collects data from various sensors, which is shared into the database using ZigBee cc2530 Transmitter Receiver through UART communication. The wireless device is embedded with sensors like Pulse oximeter (senses the heart beat rate and blood oxygen concentration)and temperature sensor. This data is monitored regularly and if there is any abnormality in the values then an alert is sent to the doctor to intimate the condition of the patient. This paper provides an interaction of the patient with the doctors. The interaction is enabled using public and private chat application where any number of patients can interact with a doctor. It is challenging task to personalize specific healthcare data i.e. medical records for various application users in an appropriate and secured fashion. Thus, the patient’s health records i.e. prescription, scan reports, etc. are uploaded by the patient which can be viewed by the doctor. These files are encrypted using an encryption algorithm before uploading it into the cloud. Similarly it is decrypted while downloaded by the doctor for reference. The data collected is used for the prediction of diseases like heart attack and the report is sent to the doctor. Hence the project’s aim is, when the recorded value exceeds the threshold range, an automatic intimation with the patient’s collected data is sent to the concerned doctor.

Effectiveness and safety of pharmacological sedation for aggressive or agitated adult patients in a prehospital emergency situation: a systematic review protocol.

The objective of this systematic review is to identify, evaluate and synthesize evidence on the effectiveness and safety of pharmacological sedation for aggressive or agitated adult patients in a prehospital emergency situation.

－日本蘇生学会蘇生医療検討委員会報告－ 「救急救命士によるビデオ硬性挿管用喉頭鏡に関する実態調査」（第１報）

－日本蘇生学会蘇生医療検討委員会報告－ 「救急救命士によるビデオ硬性挿管用喉頭鏡に関する実態調査」（第１報）

－日本蘇生学会蘇生医療検討委員会報告－ 「救急救命士によるビデオ硬性挿管用喉頭鏡に関する実態調査」（第２報）

－日本蘇生学会蘇生医療検討委員会報告－ 「救急救命士によるビデオ硬性挿管用喉頭鏡に関する実態調査」（第２報）

Mortui vivos docent : The dead teach the living

There are considerable similarities and intersections between forensic medicine and emergency medicine. This applies especially to frustraneously resuscitated patients or other lethal clinical courses of traumatized patients who are subject to latter forensic autopsy. Cooperation between departments of emergency and forensic medicine not only has emergency medical training potential, but also the possibility of retrospective evaluation of medical emergency measures - both in individual cases and with regard to epidemiological aspects. In particular, the widespread registration of autopsied pre-hospital trauma deaths that occurred despite on-scene resuscitation attempts is useful. The pre-hospital situation represents ahotspot, but also a blind spot in the overall trauma mortality. In recent clinical registers, preclinical deaths go mostly unrecorded, despite the undisputed benefits of clinical registers.