A survey of nurses' beliefs about the medical emergency team system in a canadian tertiary hospital. (1/35)

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Nicosia General Hospital cardiac arrest team: first year's practice and outcomes of in-hospital resuscitation. (2/35)

INTRODUCTION: In 2007, Nicosia General Hospital implemented a resuscitation policy. 378 nurses and 120 doctors were successfully trained in advanced life support (ALS) in order to staff cardiac arrest teams. The aim of this study was to assess the frequency of cardiac arrest and resuscitation outcomes in Nicosia General Hospital and assess any associations between the survival rate and the patient's characteristics. We also aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of in-hospital resuscitation in order to detect ways of improvement. METHODS: We prospectively analyzed the data on all cardiac arrest calls in Nicosia General Hospital between January and December 2007. Data were collected using the Utstein style. RESULTS: The cardiac arrest team (CAT) was called 83 times, of which 10 were false alarms. Cardiac arrest was identified in 69 calls, while 4 calls were respiratory arrests. The patients' mean age was 70.8 years (95% CI: 66.6-75.1). In 86% the initial rhythm was asystole/pulseless electrical activity (PEA) and in 14% ventricular fibrillation/tachycardia (VF/VT). Return of spontaneous circulation was achieved in 52% of the cases. Survival to discharge was achieved in 17.8% of the patients with arrest and in 14.5% of cardiac arrests. Patients with an initial rhythm of asystole/PEA were discharged in 5% and patients with VF/VT in 70% of cases. About 36% of the patients less than 60 years old and 12% of the patients older than 60 were discharged. The CAT arrived within 1.6 minutes, first shock in VF/VT was delivered within 1.5 minutes and the first adrenaline dose in asystole/PEA was given within 2.7 minutes. CONCLUSIONS: It is more likely for our patients to survive to discharge if they are less than 60 years old, they are hospitalized in the cardiology department and the initial rhythm is VF/VT. Our outcomes are similar to survival rates in larger studies. However, points of improvement have been identified and interventions need to be made in order to improve documentation and outcomes of in-hospital arrests.  (+info)

Using Medical Emergency Teams to detect preventable adverse events. (3/35)

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Effectiveness of the Medical Emergency Team: the importance of dose. (4/35)

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Sensitivity of the pediatric early warning score to identify patient deterioration. (5/35)

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Differences in trauma team activation criteria among Norwegian hospitals. (6/35)

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A high-fidelity simulation mannequin to introduce pharmacy students to advanced cardiovascular life support. (7/35)

OBJECTIVE: To design and implement an advanced cardiac life support (ACLS) workshop featuring a human patient simulator (HPS) for third-year pharmacy students. DESIGN: The ACLS workshop consisted of a pre-session lecture, a calculation exercise, and a 40-minute ACLS session using an HPS. Twenty-four 5-member teams of students were assigned roles on a code team and participated in a ventricular fibrillation/pulseless ventricular tachycardia case. ASSESSMENT: Students completed an anonymous postactivity survey instrument and knowledge quiz. Most students who completed the ACLS workshop agreed they would like to participate in additional simulation activities and that the HPS experience enhanced their understanding of ACLS and the pharmacist responsibilities during an ACLS event (99.2% and 98.3%, respectively). However, the median score on the knowledge-based questions was 25%. CONCLUSION: Pharmacy students agreed HPS enhanced their learning experience; however, their retention of the knowledge learned was not consistent with the perceived benefits of HPS to education.  (+info)

Extracorporeal life support for management of refractory cardiac or respiratory failure: initial experience in a tertiary centre. (8/35)

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