Journal article
Prehospital Defibrillation Performed by Emergency Medical Technicians in Rural Communities
The New England journal of medicine, Vol.310(4), pp.219-223
01/26/1984
DOI: 10.1056/NEJM198401263100403
PMID: 6361562
Abstract
Survival after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest is poor in communities served only by basic ambulance services, but conventional advanced prehospital care is not an option for most rural communities. Ambulance technicians in 18 small communities (average population, 10,400) were trained to recognize and defibrillate ventricular fibrillation. Neither endotracheal intubation nor medication was used. Twelve additional communities of similar size where such early defibrillation was not attempted provided control data. In the communities where early defibrillation was available, 12 of 64 patients (19 per cent) who were found in ventricular fibrillation were resuscitated and discharged alive from the hospital; this was true of only 1 of 31 such patients (3 per cent) in the control communities, where only basic life support was available (P<0.05). Ten (83 per cent) of the long-term survivors received electrical shocks administered solely by the technicians. Early defibrillation by minimally trained ambulance technicians is an effective approach to emergency cardiac care in rural communities
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- Prehospital Defibrillation Performed by Emergency Medical Technicians in Rural Communities
- Creators
- Kenneth R StultsDonald D BrownVicki L SchugJudith A Bean
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publication Details
- The New England journal of medicine, Vol.310(4), pp.219-223
- Publisher
- Massachusetts Medical Society
- DOI
- 10.1056/NEJM198401263100403
- PMID
- 6361562
- ISSN
- 0028-4793
- eISSN
- 1533-4406
- Language
- English
- Date published
- 01/26/1984
- Academic Unit
- Cardiovascular Medicine; Internal Medicine
- Record Identifier
- 9984094739902771
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