Comparison of Termination-of-Resuscitation Guidelines for Basic Life Support: Defibrillator Providers in Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest

Factors affecting the return of spontaneous circulation in cardiac arrest patients

The aim of this study was to determine the factors affecting the return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC) in cardiac arrest patients who underwent quality chest compressions as recommended by international guidelines. In this retrospective observational study, the data of nontraumatic out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) patients (n = 784) brought by an ambulance to emergency between January 2018 and December 2019 were extracted from the validated hospital automation system. About 452 patients met inclusion criteria. All eligible patients for analysis were treated with an automatic cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) device for chest compression.. Significance threshold for P-value was < 0.05. Logistic regression analysis was used to determine the factors affecting mortality. 61.7% (n = 279) of the study population was male and 65.0% of patients (n = 294) had OHCA. 88 patients (19.5%) had a shockable rhythm and were defibrillated. There was a 0.5-fold increase in mortality rate in patients with thrombocyte count < 199 × 109/L (OR: 0.482, 95% CI: 0.280-0.828) and CPR duration longer than 42 minutes led to a 6.2-fold increase in the probability of ROSC (OR: 6.232, 95% CI: 3.551-10.936) (P < .05). There is no clear consensus on the ideal resuscitation duration; however, our study suggests that it should last at least 42 minutes.

Termination of Resuscitation Rules and Survival Among Patients With Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Importance

Termination of resuscitation (TOR) rules may help guide prehospital decisions to stop resuscitation, with potential effects on patient outcomes and health resource use. Rules with high sensitivity risk increasing inappropriate transport of nonsurvivors, while rules without excellent specificity risk missed survivors. Further examination of the performance of TOR rules in estimating survival of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) is needed.

Objective

To determine whether TOR rules can accurately identify patients who will not survive an OHCA.

Data Sources

For this systematic review and meta-analysis, the MEDLINE, Embase, CINAHL, Cochrane Library, and Web of Science databases were searched from database inception up to January 11, 2024. There were no restrictions on language, publication date, or time frame of the study.

Study Selection

Two reviewers independently screened records, first by title and abstract and then by full text. Randomized clinical trials, case-control studies, cohort studies, cross-sectional studies, retrospective analyses, and modeling studies were included. Systematic reviews and meta-analyses were reviewed to identify primary studies. Studies predicting outcomes other than death, in-hospital studies, animal studies, and non-peer-reviewed studies were excluded.

Data Extraction and Synthesis

Data were extracted by one reviewer and checked by a second. Two reviewers assessed risk of bias using the Revised Quality Assessment Tool for Diagnostic Accuracy Studies. Cochrane Screening and Diagnostic Tests Methods Group recommendations were followed when conducting a bivariate random-effects meta-analysis. This review followed the Preferred Reporting Items for a Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Diagnostic Test Accuracy Studies (PRISMA-DTA) statement and is registered with the International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews (CRD42019131010).

Main Outcomes and Measures

Sensitivity and specificity tables with 95% CIs and bivariate summary receiver operating characteristic (SROC) curves were produced. Estimates of effects at different prevalence levels were calculated. These estimates were used to evaluate the practical implications of TOR rule use at different prevalence levels.

Results

This review included 43 nonrandomized studies published between 1993 and 2023, addressing 29 TOR rules and involving 1 125 587 cases. Fifteen studies reported the derivation of 20 TOR rules. Thirty-three studies reported external data validations of 17 TOR rules. Seven TOR rules had data to facilitate meta-analysis. One clinical study was identified. The universal termination of resuscitation rule had the best performance, with pooled sensitivity of 0.62 (95% CI, 0.54-0.71), pooled specificity of 0.88 (95% CI, 0.82-0.94), and a diagnostic odds ratio of 20.45 (95% CI, 13.15-31.83).

Conclusions and Relevance

In this review, there was insufficient robust evidence to support widespread implementation of TOR rules in clinical practice. These findings suggest that adoption of TOR rules may lead to missed survivors and increased resource utilization.

Wilderness Medical Society Clinical Practice Guidelines for Prevention and Management of Avalanche and Nonavalanche Snow Burial Accidents: 2024 Update

To provide guidance to the general public, clinicians, and avalanche professionals about best practices, the Wilderness Medical Society convened an expert panel to revise the evidence-based guidelines for the prevention, rescue, and resuscitation of avalanche and nonavalanche snow burial victims. The original panel authored the Wilderness Medical Society Practice Guidelines for Prevention and Management of Avalanche and Nonavalanche Snow Burial Accidents in 2017. A second panel was convened to update these guidelines and make recommendations based on quality of supporting evidence.

The predictive performance of current termination-of-resuscitation rules in patients following out-of-hospital cardiac arrest in Asian countries: A cross-sectional multicentre study

Background

Termination-of-resuscitation rules (TORRs) in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) patients have been applied in western countries; in Asia, two TORRs were developed and have not been externally validated widely. We aimed to externally validate the TORRs using the registry of Pan-Asian Resuscitation Outcomes Study (PAROS).

Methods

PAROS enrolled 66,780 OHCA patients in seven Asian countries from 1 January 2009 to 31 December 2012. The American Heart Association-Basic Life Support and AHA-ALS (AHA-BLS), AHA-Advanced Life Support (AHA-ALS), Goto, and Shibahashi TORRs were selected. The diagnostic test characteristics and area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) were calculated. We further determined the most suitable TORR in Asia and analysed the variable differences between subgroups.

Results

We included 55,064 patients in the final analysis. The sensitivity, specificity, negative predictive value, positive predictive value, and AUC, respectively, for AHA-BLS, AHA-ALS, Goto, Shibashi TORRs were 79.0%, 80.0%, 19.6%, 98.5%, and 0.80; 48.6%, 88.3%, 9.8%, 98.5%, and 0.60; 53.8%, 91.4%, 11.2%, 99.0%, and 0.73; and 35.0%, 94.2%, 8.4%, 99.0%, and 0.65. In countries using the Goto TORR with PPV<99%, OHCA patients were younger, had more males, a higher rate of shockable rhythm, witnessed collapse, pre-hospital defibrillation, and survival to discharge, compared with countries using the Goto TORR with PPV ≥99%.

Conclusions

There was no single TORR fit for all Asian countries. The Goto TORR can be considered the most suitable; however, a high predictive performance with PPV ≥99% was not achieved in three countries using it (Korea, Malaysia, and Taiwan).

External validation of multimodal termination of resuscitation rules for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest patients in the COVID-19 era

BACKGROUND

Futile resuscitation for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) patients in the coronavirus disease (COVID)-19 era can lead to risk of disease transmission and unnecessary transport. Various existing basic or advanced life support (BLS or ALS, respectively) rules for the termination of resuscitation (TOR) have been derived and validated in North America and Asian countries. This study aimed to evaluate the external validation of these rules in predicting the survival outcomes of OHCA patients in the COVID-19 era.

METHODS

This was a multicenter observational study using the WinCOVID-19 Daegu registry data collected during February 18-March 31, 2020. The subjects were patients who showed cardiac arrest of presumed cardiac etiology. The outcomes of each rule were compared to the actual patient survival outcomes. The sensitivity, specificity, false positive value (FPV), and positive predictive value (PPV) of each TOR rule were evaluated.

RESULTS

In total, 170 of the 184 OHCA patients were eligible and evaluated. TOR was recommended for 122 patients based on the international basic life support termination of resuscitation (BLS-TOR) rule, which showed 85% specificity, 74% sensitivity, 0.8% FPV, and 99% PPV for predicting unfavorable survival outcomes. When the traditional BLS-TOR rules and KoCARC TOR rule II were applied to our registry, one patient met the TOR criteria but survived at hospital discharge. With regard to the FPV (upper limit of 95% confidence interval < 5%), specificity (100%), and PPV (> 99%) criteria, only the KoCARC TOR rule I, which included a combination of three factors including not being witnessed by emergency medical technicians, presenting with an asystole at the scene, and not experiencing prehospital shock delivery or return of spontaneous circulation, was found to be superior to all other TOR rules.

CONCLUSION

Among the previous nine BLS and ALS TOR rules, KoCARC TOR rule I was most suitable for predicting poor survival outcomes and showed improved diagnostic performance. Further research on variations in resources and treatment protocols among facilities, regions, and cultures will be useful in determining the feasibility of TOR rules for COVID-19 patients worldwide.

Education, Implementation, and Teams: 2020 International Consensus on Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation and Emergency Cardiovascular Care Science With Treatment Recommendations

For this 2020 International Consensus on Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation and Emergency Cardiovascular Care Science With Treatment Recommendations, the Education, Implementation, and Teams Task Force applied the population, intervention, comparator, outcome, study design, time frame format and performed 15 systematic reviews, applying the Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development, and Evaluation guidance. Furthermore, 4 scoping reviews and 7 evidence updates assessed any new evidence to determine if a change in any existing treatment recommendation was required. The topics covered included training for the treatment of opioid overdose; basic life support, including automated external defibrillator training; measuring implementation and performance in communities, and cardiac arrest centers; advanced life support training, including team and leadership training and rapid response teams; measuring cardiopulmonary resuscitation performance, feedback devices, and debriefing; and the use of social media to improve cardiopulmonary resuscitation application.

Education, Implementation, and Teams: 2020 International Consensus on Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation and Emergency Cardiovascular Care Science With Treatment Recommendations

For this 2020 International Consensus on Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation and Emergency Cardiovascular Care Science With Treatment Recommendations, the Education, Implementation, and Teams Task Force applied the population, intervention, comparator, outcome, study design, time frame format and performed 15 systematic reviews, applying the Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development, and Evaluation guidance. Furthermore, 4 scoping reviews and 7 evidence updates assessed any new evidence to determine if a change in any existing treatment recommendation was required. The topics covered included training for the treatment of opioid overdose; basic life support, including automated external defibrillator training; measuring implementation and performance in communities, and cardiac arrest centers; advanced life support training, including team and leadership training and rapid response teams; measuring cardiopulmonary resuscitation performance, feedback devices, and debriefing; and the use of social media to improve cardiopulmonary resuscitation application.

Validation of the NUE Rule to Predict Futile Resuscitation of Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest

AIM

We validated the NUE rule, using three criteria (Non-shockable initial rhythm, Unwitnessed arrest, Eighty years or older) to predict futile resuscitation of patients with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA).

METHODS

We performed a retrospective cohort analysis of all recorded OHCA in Marion County, Indiana, from January 1, 2014 to December 31, 2019. We described patient, arrest, and emergency medical services (EMS) response characteristics, and assessed the performance of the NUE rule in identifying patients unlikely to survive to hospital discharge.

RESULTS

From 2014 to 2019, EMS responded to 4370 patients who sustained OHCA. We excluded 329 (7.5%) patients with incomplete data. Median patient age was 62 years (IQR 49 - 73), 1599 (39.6%) patients were female, and 1728 (42.8%) arrests were witnessed. The NUE rule identified 290 (7.2%) arrests, of whom none survived to hospital discharge.

CONCLUSION

In external validation, the NUE rule (Non-shockable initial rhythm, Unwitnessed arrest, Eighty years or older) correctly identified 7.2% of OHCA patients unlikely to survive to hospital discharge. The NUE rule could be used in EMS protocols and policies to identify OHCA patients very unlikely to benefit from aggressive resuscitation.

Diagnostic performance of the basic and advanced life support termination of resuscitation rules: A systematic review and diagnostic meta-analysis

AIM

To minimize termination of resuscitation (TOR) in potential survivors, the desired positive predictive value (PPV) for mortality and specificity of universal TOR-rules are ≥99%. In lack of a quantitative summary of the collective evidence, we performed a diagnostic meta-analysis to provide an overall estimate of the performance of the basic and advanced life support (BLS and ALS) termination rules.

DATA SOURCES

We searched PubMed/EMBASE/Web-of-Science/CINAHL and Cochrane (until September 2019) for studies on either or both TOR-rules in non-traumatic, adult cardiac arrest. PRISMA-DTA-guidelines were followed.

RESULTS

There were 19 studies: 16 reported on the BLS-rule (205.073 patients, TOR-advice in 57%), 11 on the ALS-rule (161.850 patients, TOR-advice in 24%). Pooled specificities were 0.95 (0.89-0.98) and 0.98 (0.95-1.00) respectively, with a PPV of 0.99 (0.99-1.00) and 1.00 (0.99-1.00). Specificities were significantly lower in non-Western than Western regions: 0.84 (0.73-0.92) vs. 0.99 (0.97-0.99), p < 0.001 for the BLS rule. For the ALS-rule, specificities were 0.94 (0.87-0.97) vs. 1.00 (0.99-1.00), p < 0.001. For non-Western regions, 16 (BLS) or 6 (ALS) out of 100 potential survivors met the TOR-criteria. Meta-regression demonstrated decreasing performance in settings with lower rates of in-field shocks.

CONCLUSIONS

Despite an overall high PPV, this meta-analysis highlights a clinically important variation in diagnostic performance of the BLS and ALS TOR-rules. Lower specificity and PPV were seen in non-Western regions, and populations with lower rates of in-field defibrillation. Improved insight in the varying diagnostic performance is highly needed, and local validation of the rules is warranted to prevent in-field termination of potential survivors.

An Utstein-based model score to predict survival to hospital admission: The UB-ROSC score

AIMS

To develop and validate a multi-parametric practical score to predict the probability of survival to hospital admission of an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) victim by using Utstein Style-based variables.

METHODS

All consecutive OHCA cases occurring from 2015 to 2017 in two regions, Pavia Province (Italy) and Canton Ticino (Switzerland) were included. We used random effect logistic regression to model survival to hospital admission after an OHCA. We computed the model area under the ROC curve (AUC ROC) for discrimination and we performed both internal and external validation by considering all OHCAs occurring in the aforementioned regions in 2018. The Utstein-Based ROSC (UB-ROSC) score was derived by using the coefficients estimated in the regression model. The score value was obtained adding the pertinent score components calculated for each variable. The score was then plotted against the probability of survival to hospital admission.

RESULTS

1962 OHCAs were included (62% male, mean age 73 ± 16 years). Age, aetiology, location, witnessed OHCA, bystander CPR, EMS arrival time and shockable rhythm were independently associated with survival to hospital admission. The model showed excellent discrimination (AUC 0.83, 95%CI 0.81-0.85) for predicting survival to hospital admission, also at internal cross-validation (AUC 0.82, 95%CI 0.80-0.84). The model maintained good discrimination after external validation by using the 2018 OHCA cohort (AUC 0.77, 95%CI 0.74-0.80).

CONCLUSIONS

UB-ROSC score is a novel score that predicts the probability of survival to hospital admission of an OHCA victim. UB-ROSC shall help in setting realistic expectations about sustained ROSC achievement during resuscitation manoeuvres.

Evaluation of the Uptake of a Prehospital Cardiac Arrest Termination of Resuscitation Rule

BACKGROUND

Previous research has focused on creation and validation of a basic life support rule for termination of resuscitation (TOR) in nontraumatic out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) to identify patients who will not be successfully resuscitated or will not have a favorable outcome. Although now widely implemented, translational research regarding in-field compliance with TOR criteria and barriers to use is scarce.

OBJECTIVES

This project aimed to assess compliance rates, barriers to use, and effect on ambulance transport rates after implementing TOR criteria for OHCA.

METHODS

Retrospective chart review of patients ≥ 18 years with OHCA. Data from regional Emergency Medical Services agencies were collected to determine TOR rule compliance for patients meeting criteria, barriers to use, and effect of a TOR rule on ambulance transport.

RESULTS

There were 552 patients with OHCAs identified. Ninety-one patients met TOR criteria, with paramedics requesting TOR in 81 (89%) cases and physicians granting requests in 65 (80.2%) cases. Perceived barriers to TOR compliance included distraught families, nearby advanced-care paramedics, and unusual circumstances. Reasons for physician refusal of TOR requests included hospital proximity, patient not receiving epinephrine, and poor communication connection to paramedics. Total high priority transports decreased 15.6% after implementation of a TOR rule.

CONCLUSIONS

The study found high compliance after implementation of a TOR rule and identified potentially addressable barriers to TOR use. Appropriate application of a TOR rule led to reduction in high-priority ambulance transports, potentially reducing futile use of health care resources and risk of ambulance motor vehicle collisions.

Identifying out-of-hospital cardiac arrest patients with no chance of survival: An independent validation of prediction rules

BACKGROUND

The Basic life support (BLS) and Advanced life support (ALS) are known prediction rules for termination of resuscitation (TOR) in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA). Recently, a new rule was developed by Jabre et al. We aimed to independently validate and compare the predictive accuracy of these rules.

METHODS

OHCA cases in Iceland from 2008 to 2017 from a population-based, prospectively registered database. Primary outcome was survival to discharge among patients that met all conditions of abovementioned rules: BLS (not witnessed by EMS personnel, no defibrillation nor ROSC before transport), ALS (BLS criteria plus not witnessed nor CPR by bystander) and Jabre (not witnessed by EMS personnel, initial rhythm non-shockable, no sustainable ROSC before third dose of adrenaline).

RESULTS

Overall, 568 OHCA patients were included in validation of TOR rules. Mean age 67, males 74%, witnessed by EMS 11%, by bystander 66% that attempted CPR in 50%, transported to hospital 60%, overall survival 20%. All rules had high specificity for mortality, 99.6-100% (95%CI 95-100). The Jabre and BLS rules had similar sensitivity 47% (43-52) vs. 44% (40-49), respectively, the sensitivity of ALS was lower, 8% (5-11). Combined use of positive BLS and Jabre rules performed the best, identifying 88/226 (39%) of futile cases transported to hospital, specificity 100% (97-100) and sensitivity 59% (55-64).

CONCLUSIONS

The accuracy of the BLS and Jabre TOR rules to predict mortality after OHCA is very good and their combined use may be superior to the use of either one.

A simple decision rule predicts futile resuscitation of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest

AIM

Resuscitation of cardiac arrest involves invasive and traumatic interventions and places a large burden on limited EMS resources. Our aim was to identify prehospital cardiac arrests for which resuscitation is extremely unlikely to result in survival to hospital discharge.

METHODS

We performed a retrospective cohort analysis of all cardiac arrests in San Mateo County, California, for which paramedics were dispatched, from January 1, 2015 to December 31, 2018, using the Cardiac Arrest Registry to Enhance Survival (CARES) database. We described characteristics of patients, arrests, and EMS responses, and used recursive partitioning to develop decision rules to identify arrests unlikely to survive to hospital discharge, or to survive with good neurologic function.

RESULTS

From 2015-2018, 1750 patients received EMS dispatch for cardiac arrest in San Mateo County. We excluded 44 patients for whom resuscitation was terminated due to DNR directives. Median age was 69 years (IQR 57-81), 563 (33.0%) patients were female, 816 (47.8%) had witnessed arrests, 651 (38.2%) received bystander CPR, 421 (24.7%) had an initial shockable rhythm, and 1178 (69.1%) arrested at home. A simple rule (non-shockable initial rhythm, unwitnessed arrest, and age 80 or greater) excludes 223 (13.1%) arrests, of whom none survived to hospital discharge.

CONCLUSION

A simple decision rule (non-shockable rhythm, unwitnessed arrest, age ≥ 80) identifies arrests for which resuscitation is futile. If validated, this rule could be applied by EMS policymakers to identify cardiac arrests for which the trauma and expense of resuscitation are extremely unlikely to result in survival.

Meta-analysis of the accuracy of termination of resuscitation rules for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest

BACKGROUND

Our objective was to perform a systematic review of studies reporting the accuracy of termination of resuscitation rules (TORRs) for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA).

METHODS

We performed a comprehensive search of the literature for studies evaluating the accuracy of TORRs, with two investigators abstracting relevant data from each study regarding study design, study quality and the accuracy of the TORRs. Bivariate meta-analysis was performed using the mada procedure in R.

RESULTS

We identified 14 studies reporting the performance of 9 separate TORRs. The sensitivity (proportion of eventual survivors for whom the TORR recommends resuscitation and transport) was generally high: 95% for the European Resuscitation Council (ERC) TORR, 97% for the basic life support (BLS) TORR and 99% for the advanced life support (ALS) TORR. The BLS and ERC TORR were more specific, which would lead to fewer futile transports, and all three of these TORRs had a miss rate of ≤0.13% (defined as a case where a patient is recommended for termination but survives). The pooled proportion of patients for whom each rule recommends TOR was much higher for the ERC and BLS TORRs (93.5% and 74.8%, respectively) than for the ALS TORR (29.0%).

CONCLUSIONS

The BLS and ERC TORRs identify a large proportion of patients who are candidates for termination of resuscitation following OHCA while having a very low rate of misclassifying eventual survivors (<0.1%). Further prospective validation of the ERC TORR and direct comparison with BLS TORR are needed.

Association of the Emergency Medical Services-Related Time Interval with Survival Outcomes of Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest Cases in Four Asian Metropolitan Cities Using the Scoop-and-Run Emergency Medical Services Model

BACKGROUND

Response time interval (RTI) and scene time interval (STI) are key time variables in the out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) cases treated and transported via emergency medical services (EMS).

OBJECTIVE

We evaluated distribution and interactive association of RTI and STI with survival outcomes of OHCA in four Asian metropolitan cities.

METHODS

An OHCA cohort from Pan-Asian Resuscitation Outcome Study (PAROS) conducted between January 2009 and December 2011 was analyzed. Adult EMS-treated cardiac arrests with presumed cardiac origin were included. A multivariable logistic regression model with an interaction term was used to evaluate the effect of STI according to different RTI categories on survival outcomes. Risk-adjusted predicted rates of survival outcomes were calculated and compared with observed rate.

RESULTS

A total of 16,974 OHCA cases were analyzed after serial exclusion. Median RTI was 6.0 min (interquartile range [IQR] 5.0-8.0 min) and median STI was 12.0 min (IQR 8.0-16.1). The prolonged STI in the longest RTI group was associated with a lower rate of survival to discharge or of survival 30 days after arrest (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 0.59; 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.42-0.81), as well as a poorer neurologic outcome (aOR 0.63; 95% CI 0.41-0.97) without an increasing chance of prehospital return of spontaneous circulation (aOR 1.12; 95% CI 0.88-1.45).

CONCLUSIONS

Prolonged STI in OHCA with a delayed response time had a negative association with survival outcomes in four Asian metropolitan cities using the scoop-and-run EMS model. Establishing an optimal STI based on the response time could be considered.

Reducing the futile transportation of out-of-hospital cardiac arrests: a retrospective validation

Objectives:

The primary aim was to measure the predictive value of a termination of resuscitation guideline that allows for pre-hospital termination of adult cardiac arrests of presumed cardiac aetiology where the patient did not present in a shockable cardiac rhythm and did not achieve return of spontaneous circulation on-scene. The secondary objective was to compare the effectiveness of that guideline with existing basic life support and advanced life support guidelines.

Methods:

A retrospective review of 2139 adult out-of-hospital primary cardiac arrest patients transported to hospital by a single ambulance trust during a 12-month period between 1 April 2014 and 31 March 2015.

Results:

Application of the new guideline identified 832 for termination, from which three (0.4%) survived, resulting in a specificity of 99.1% (95% CI: 97.4% to 99.8%), PPV of 99.6% (95% CI: 99% to 99.9%), sensitivity of 46.5% (95% CI: 44.1% to 48.8%) and NPV of 25.6% (95% CI: 23.2% to 28.1%). The transport rate was 60.7%, compared to 72.8% for the basic life support guideline and 95.2% for the advanced life support guideline.

Conclusions:

Within the tested cohort, a reduction of 39.3% in transport of adult out-of-hospital primary cardiac arrest of presumed cardiac aetiology could have been achieved if using a termination of resuscitation guideline that allows for termination on-scene when the patient presented in a non-shockable rhythm and there has been no return of spontaneous circulation. These guidelines require prospective validation, but may identify more futile transportations than other previously validated guidelines.

The Reliability of Modified Termination of Resuscitation Rules after Arrival at the Emergency Department

Introduction

Pre-hospital termination of resuscitation (TOR) is not a usual practice in many cities. The current study aimed to examine the reliability of the modified basic life support (ED-BLS) and advanced life support (ED-ALS) rules for TOR after patient arrival at the emergency department (ED).

Methods

In this retrospective cohort study, adult non-traumatic cardiac arrest patients who received pre-hospital basic life support and defibrillator (BLS-D) mode of service in Taoyuan County in northern Taiwan during the study period were assessed. Data were retrieved from web-based registry records.

Results

Of the 1612 patients included, 40 (2.5%) achieved survival to discharge. The ED-ALS rule showed higher specificity (ED-ALS rule: 82.5% {95% confidence interval [CI]: 68.1-91.3} vs. ED-BLS rule: 50.0% {95%CI: 35.2-64.8}) and positive predictive value (ED-ALS rule: 99.0% {95% CI: 97.9-99.5} vs. ED-BLS rule: 98.6% {95%CI: 97.8-99.1}) than the ED-BLS rule in terms of predicting no survival to discharge after patient arrival at the ED. Among patients who fulfilled all criteria for the ED-BLS and ED-ALS rule, 20 (1.4%) and seven (1.0%) survived to discharge, respectively. Application of the ED-BLS and ED-ALS rules could have reduced further resuscitation efforts after arrival at the ED by 86.4% and 43.1%, respectively.

Conclusion

For non-traumatic out-of-hospital cardiac arrest patients who receive BLS-D service, the ED-ALS rule has a higher specificity and PPV than the ED-BLS rule to predict no survival to discharge after patient arrival at the ED. Using the ED-ALS rule to terminate resuscitation after arrival at the ED should be prospectively validated. (Hong Kong j.emerg.med. 2014;21:283-290)

An Ethical Justification for Termination of Resuscitation Protocols for Pediatric Patients

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this article was to compare specific characteristics and outcomes among adult and pediatric out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) patients to show that the existing literature warrants the design and implementation of pediatric studies that would specifically evaluate termination of resuscitation protocols. We also address the emotional and practical concerns associated with ceasing resuscitation efforts on scene when treating pediatric patients.

METHODS

Relevant prospective and retrospective studies were used to compare characteristics and outcomes between adult and pediatric OHCA patients. Characteristics analyzed were nonwitnessed arrests, absence of shockable rhythm, no return of spontaneous circulation, and survival to hospital discharge.

RESULTS

Cases of unwitnessed arrests by emergency medical services providers are substantially the same in pediatric patients (41.0%-96.3%) compared with their adult counterparts (47.4%-97.7%). The adult studies revealed 57.6% to 92.2% of patients without an initial shockable rhythm. The pediatric studies showed a range of 64.0% to 98.0%. The range of adult patients without return of spontaneous circulation was 54.8% to 95.4%, and the range in pediatric patients was 68.2% to 95.6%. Survival rates among the adult studies ranged from 0.8% to 9.3% (mean, 5.0%; median, 5.2%), and in the pediatric studies they were 2.0% to 26.2% (mean, 9.2%; median, 7.7%).

CONCLUSIONS

The data compared demonstrate that characteristics and outcomes are virtually identical between adult and pediatric OHCA patients. We also found the 3 chief barriers hindering further research to be invalid impediments to moving forward. This review warrants designing pediatric studies that would specifically correlate termination of resuscitation protocols with patient survival and include predictive values.

Wilderness Medical Society Practice Guidelines for Prevention and Management of Avalanche and Nonavalanche Snow Burial Accidents

To provide guidance to clinicians and avalanche professionals about best practices, the Wilderness Medical Society convened an expert panel to develop evidence-based guidelines for the prevention, rescue, and medical management of avalanche and nonavalanche snow burial victims. Recommendations are graded on the basis of quality of supporting evidence according to the classification scheme of the American College of Chest Physicians.

Adult "termination-of-resuscitation" (TOR)-criteria may not be suitable for children - a retrospective analysis

Background

Only a small number of patients survive out-of-hospital-cardiac-arrest (OHCA). The duration of CPR varies considerably and transportation of patients under CPR is often unsuccessful. Termination-of-resuscitation (TOR)-criteria aim to preclude futile resuscitation efforts.

Our goal was to find out to which extent existing TOR-criteria can be transferred to paediatric OHCA-patients with special regard to their prognostic value.

Methods

We performed a retrospective analysis of an eleven-year single centre patient cohort. 43 paediatric patients admitted to our institution after emergency-medical-system (EMS)-confirmed OHCA from 2003 to 2013 were included. Morrison’s BLS- and ALS-TOR-rules as well as the Trauma-TOR-criteria by the American Association of EMS Physicians were evaluated for application in children, by calculating sensitivity, specificity, negative and positive predictive value for death-, as well as survival-prediction in our cohort.

Results

26 patients achieved ROSC and 14 were discharged alive (n = 7 PCPC 1/2, n = 7 PCPC 5). Sensitivity for BLS-TOR-criteria predicting death was 48.3%, specificity 92.9%, the PPV 93.3% and the NPV 46.4%. ALS-TOR-criteria for death had a sensitivity of 10.3%, specificity of 100%, a PPV of 100% and an NPV of 35%.

Conclusion

Retrospective application of the BLS-TOR-rule in our patient cohort identified the resuscitation of one later survivor as futile. ALS-TOR-criteria did not give false predictions of death. The proportion of CPRs that could have been abandoned is 48.2% for the BLS-TOR and only 10.3% for the ALS-TOR-rule. Both rules therefore appear not to be transferable to a paediatric population.

Association of initial rhythm with neurologically favorable survival in non-shockable out-of-hospital cardiac arrest without a bystander witness or bystander cardiopulmonary resuscitation

BACKGROUND

Out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) has a predominantly non-shockable rhythm. Non-shockable rhythm, and the absence of a bystander witness or bystander cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) are associated with poor outcomes. However, the association between the type of non-shockable rhythm and outcomes is not well known.

OBJECTIVE

To examine the association between the initial rhythm and neurologically favorable outcomes after non-shockable OHCA without a bystander witness or bystander CPR.

METHODS

In a nationwide, population-based, cohort study, we analyzed 213,984 adult OHCA patients with a non-shockable rhythm who had neither a bystander witness nor bystander CPR. They were identified through the Japanese national OHCA registry data from January 1, 2005 to December 31, 2010. The primary outcome was neurologically favorable survival.

RESULTS

Among 213,984 patients, the initial rhythm was Pulseless Electrical Activity (PEA) in 31,179 patients (14.6%) and Asystole in 182,805 patients (85.4%). The neurological outcome was more favorable in PEA than in Asystole (1.4% vs. 0.2%, p<0.0001). After adjusting for age, sex, etiology of arrest, epinephrine administration, advanced airway management, time from call to contact with patient, and calendar year, PEA was associated with an increased neurologically favorable survival rate (odds ratio 7.86; 95% confidence interval 6.81-9.07). In subgroup analysis stratified by age group (18-64, 65-84, or ≥85years), the neurologically favorable survival rate was ≥1% in PEA, even for patients aged ≥85years, but <1% in Asystole among all age groups.

CONCLUSION

PEA and Asystole should not be considered to be identical to non-shockable rhythm, but rather should be clearly distinguished from each other from the perspective of quantitative medical futility.

The impact of downtime on neurologic intact survival in patients with targeted temperature management after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest: National multicenter cohort study

AIM OF STUDY

The association between long duration of resuscitation efforts in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) and neurologic outcome is unclear and understudied with advancements in post-cardiac arrest care and high-quality cardiopulmonary resuscitation. We investigated how downtime, defined as the interval from collapse-to-return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC), impacts on neurologic outcome in OHCA patients treated with targeted temperature management (TTM).

METHODS

A multicenter, registry-based, retrospective cohort study was conducted using cases from 24 hospitals across South Korea. Of the 930 adults (≥18 years) non-traumatic OHCA patients treated with TTM between January 2007 and December 2012 at these hospitals, we included 858 patients who had sufficient data for calculating downtime. Good neurologic outcome was defined as a cerebral performance category score of 1 or 2.

RESULTS

Median downtime was 30.0 (22.0-41.0min) and 242 patients (28.2%) had good neurologic outcome. When downtime was divided by 10-min intervals (≤10min, 11-20min, 21-30min, 31-40min, 41-50min, 51-60min, and >60min), their neurologically intact survival rate were 48.2%, 51.6%, 29.2%, 22.1%, 16.1%, 14.8%, and 7.1%, respectively (p=0.01). Although downtime was associated with poor neurologic outcome [odds ratio 1.06 (1.05-1.08), p<0.01], the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of downtime for outcome was only 0.67, 95% CI (0.63-0.71). Furthermore, even with downtime >20min, 22.2% (150/526) patients still had a good neurologic outcome, and this percentage increased to 50.3% (93/185) in patients with an initial shockable rhythm, and 31.1% (134/431) with age <65 years.

CONCLUSIONS

We found that neurologically intact survival can occur at prolonged downtimes and were unable to identify a downtime for which survivability was clearly futile. These data suggest that downtime should not be considered as a factor in determining whether to provide aggressive post-arrest care, especially in patients with young patients or those with an initially shockable rhythm.

Duration of Prehospital Resuscitation Efforts After Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest

BACKGROUND

During out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, it is unclear how long prehospital resuscitation efforts should be continued to maximize lives saved.

METHODS AND RESULTS

Between 2005 and 2012, we enrolled 282 183 adult patients with bystander-witnessed out-of-hospital cardiac arrest from the All-Japan Utstein Registry. Prehospital resuscitation duration was calculated as the time interval from call receipt to return of spontaneous circulation in cases achieving prehospital return of spontaneous circulation or from call receipt to hospital arrival in cases not achieving prehospital return of spontaneous circulation. In each of 4 groups stratified by initial cardiac arrest rhythm (shockable versus nonshockable) and bystander resuscitation (presence versus absence), we calculated minimum prehospital resuscitation duration, defined as the length of resuscitation efforts in minutes required to achieve ≥99% sensitivity for the primary end point, favorable 30-day neurological outcome after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. Prehospital resuscitation duration to achieve prehospital return of spontaneous circulation ranged from 1 to 60 minutes. Longer prehospital resuscitation duration reduced the likelihood of favorable neurological outcome (adjusted odds ratio, 0.84; 95% confidence interval, 0.838-0.844). Although the frequency of favorable neurological outcome was significantly different among the 4 groups, ranging from 20.0% (shockable/bystander resuscitation group) to 0.9% (nonshockable/bystander resuscitation group; P<0.001), minimum prehospital resuscitation duration did not differ widely among the 4 groups (40 minutes in the shockable/bystander resuscitation group and the shockable/no bystander resuscitation group, 44 minutes in the nonshockable/bystander resuscitation group, and 45 minutes in the nonshockable/no bystander resuscitation group).

CONCLUSIONS

On the basis of time intervals from the shockable arrest groups, prehospital resuscitation efforts should be continued for at least 40 minutes in all adults with bystander-witnessed out-of-hospital cardiac arrest.

CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION

URL: http://www.umin.ac.jp/ctr/. Unique identifier: 000009918.

Factors associated with initiation of medical advanced cardiac life support after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest

Background

Termination of resuscitation rule permits to stop futile resuscitative efforts by paramedics. In a different setting, the decision to withhold resuscitation by emergency physician could be based on different factors. We aimed to identify the factors associated with the initiation of a medical ACLS in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest patients.

Methods

We prospectively collected the characteristics of all out-of hospital cardiac arrest patients occurring in a French district between March 2010 and December 2013 and managed by the emergency medical system. We analyzed the factors associated with the initiation of medical ACLS.

Results

Medical ACLS was initiated in 69 % of the 2690 patients included in the register. ACLS patients were younger (69 years [55–80] vs. 84 years [77–90]) and more frequently men. A higher percentage of witnessed cardiac arrest and BLS were observed. Duration of no-flow was shorter in the ACLS patients, whereas BLS duration was longer. A higher proportion of shockable rhythm and application of AED were found in this group. Mains factors associated with the initiation of medical ACLS were a suspected cardiac cause (1.73 [1.30–2.30]) and use of an automated external defibrillator (1.59 [1.18–2.16]), whereas factors associated with no medical ACLS were higher age (0.93 [0.92–0.94]), absence of BLS (0.62 [0.52–0.73]), asystole (0.31 [0.18–0.51]) and location in nursing home (0.23 [0.11–0.51]).

Conclusions

The medical decision to not initiate ACLS in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest patients seems to rely on a complex combination of validated criteria used for termination of resuscitation and factors resulting from an intuitive perception of the outcome.

Termination of resuscitation in the prehospital setting: A comparison of decisions in clinical practice vs. recommendations of a termination rule

BACKGROUND

Of the proposed algorithms that provide guidance for in-field termination of resuscitation (TOR) decisions, the guidelines for cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) refer to the basic and advanced life support (ALS)-TOR rules. To assess the potential consequences of implementation of the ALS-TOR rule, we performed a case-by-case evaluation of our in-field termination decisions and assessed the corresponding recommendations of the ALS-TOR rule.

METHODS

Cohort of non-traumatic out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA)-patients who were resuscitated by the ALS-practising emergency medical service (EMS) in the Nijmegen area (2008-2011). The ALS-TOR rule recommends termination in case all following criteria are met: unwitnessed arrest, no bystander CPR, no shock delivery, no return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC).

RESULTS

Of the 598 cases reviewed, resuscitative efforts were terminated in the field in 46% and 15% survived to discharge. The ALS-TOR rule would have recommended in-field termination in only 6% of patients, due to high percentages of witnessed arrests (73%) and bystander CPR (54%). In current practice, absence of ROSC was the most important determinant of termination [aOR 35.6 (95% CI 18.3-69.3)]. Weaker associations were found for: unwitnessed and non-public arrests, non-shockable initial rhythms and longer EMS-response times.

CONCLUSION

While designed to optimise hospital transportations, application of the ALS-TOR rule would almost double our hospital transportation rate to over 90% of OHCA-cases due to the favourable arrest circumstances in our region. Prior to implementation of the ALS-TOR rule, local evaluation of the potential consequences for the efficiency of triage is to be recommended and initiatives to improve field-triage for ALS-based EMS-systems are eagerly awaited.

Variation of current protocols for managing out-of-hospital cardiac arrest in prehospital settings among Asian countries

BACKGROUND/PURPOSE

Protocols for managing patients with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) may vary due to legal, cultural, or socioeconomic concerns. We sought to assess international variation in policies and protocols related to OHCA.

METHODS

A brief survey was developed by consensus. Elicited information included protocols for managing patients with nontraumatic OHCA or traumatic OHCA, policies for using automated external defibrillators (AEDs) during transportation of patients with ongoing resuscitation, and application of terminations of resuscitation (TOR) rules in prehospital settings in the respondent's city or country. The populations of interest were emergency physicians, medical directors of emergency medical services (EMS), and policy makers.

RESULTS

Responses were obtained from eight cities in six Asian countries. Only one (12.5%) city applied TOR rules for OHCAs. Do-not-resuscitate (DNR) orders were valid in prehospital settings in five (62.5%) cities. All cities used AEDs for nontraumatic OHCAs; seven (87.5%) cities did not routinely use AEDs for traumatic OHCAs. For nontraumatic OHCAs, four (50%) cities performed 2 minutes of on-scene cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and then transported the patients with ongoing resuscitation to hospitals; three (37.5%) cities performed 4 minutes of on-scene CPR; one (12.5%) city allowed variation in the duration of on-scene CPR.

CONCLUSION

International variation in practices and polices related to OHCAs do exist. Concerns regarding prehospital TOR rules include medical evidence, legal considerations, EMS manpower, public perception, medical oversight, education, EMS characteristics, and cost-effectiveness analysis. Further research is needed to achieve consensus regarding management protocols, especially for EMS that perform resuscitation during transportation of OHCA patients.

The scene time interval and basic life support termination of resuscitation rule in adult out-of-hospital cardiac arrest

We validated the basic life support termination of resuscitation (BLS TOR) rule retrospectively using Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest (OHCA) data of metropolitan emergency medical service (EMS) in Korea. We also tested it by investigating the scene time interval for supplementing the BLS TOR rule. OHCA database of Seoul (January 2011 to December 2012) was used, which is composed of ambulance data and hospital medical record review. EMS-treated OHCA and 19 yr or older victims were enrolled, after excluding cases occurred in the ambulance and with incomplete information. The primary and secondary outcomes were hospital mortality and poor neurologic outcome. After calculating the sensitivity (SS), specificity (SP), and the positive and negative predictive values (PPV and NPV), tested the rule according to the scene time interval group for sensitivity analysis. Of total 4,835 analyzed patients, 3,361 (69.5%) cases met all 3 criteria of the BLS TOR rule. Of these, 3,224 (95.9%) were dead at discharge (SS,73.5%; SP,69.6%; PPV,95.9%; NPV, 21.3%) and 3,342 (99.4%) showed poor neurologic outcome at discharge (SS, 75.2%; SP, 89.9%; PPV, 99.4%; NPV, 11.5%). The cut-off scene time intervals for 100% SS and PPV were more than 20 min for survival to discharge and more than 14 min for good neurological recovery. The BLS TOR rule showed relatively lower SS and PPV in OHCA data in Seoul, Korea.

Predictive performance of universal termination of resuscitation rules in an Asian community: are they accurate enough?

INTRODUCTION

Prehospital termination of resuscitation (TOR) rules have not been widely validated outside of Western countries. This study evaluated the performance of TOR rules in an Asian metropolitan with a mixed-tier emergency medical service (EMS).

METHODS

We analysed the Utstein registry of adult, non-traumatic out-of-hospital cardiac arrests (OHCAs) in Taipei to test the performance of TOR rules for advanced life support (ALS) or basic life support (BLS) providers. ALS and BLS-TOR rules were tested in OHCAs among three subgroups: (1) resuscitated by ALS, (2) by BLS and (3) by mixed ALS and BLS. Outcome definition was in-hospital death. Sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), negative predictive value and decreased transport rate (DTR) among various provider combinations were calculated.

RESULTS

Of the 3489 OHCAs included, 240 were resuscitated by ALS, 1727 by BLS and 1522 by ALS and BLS. Overall survival to hospital discharge was 197 patients (5.6%). Specificity and PPV of ALS-TOR and BLS-TOR for identifying death ranged from 70.7% to 81.8% and 95.1% to 98.1%, respectively. Applying the TOR rules would have a DTR of 34.2-63.9%. BLS rules had better predictive accuracy and DTR than ALS rules among all subgroups.

CONCLUSIONS

Application of the ALS and BLS TOR rules would have decreased OHCA transported to the hospital, and BLS rules are reasonable as the universal criteria in a mixed-tier EMS. However, 1.9-4.9% of those who survived would be misclassified as non-survivors, raising concern of compromising patient safety for the implementation of the rules.

Duration of resuscitation efforts and functional outcome after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest: when should we change to novel therapies?

BACKGROUND

Functionally favorable survival remains low after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. When initial interventions fail to achieve the return of spontaneous circulation, they are repeated with little incremental benefit. Patients without rapid return of spontaneous circulation do not typically survive with good functional outcome. Novel approaches to out-of-hospital cardiac arrest have yielded functionally favorable survival in patients for whom traditional measures had failed, but the optimal transition point from traditional measures to novel therapies is ill defined. Our objective was to estimate the dynamic probability of survival and functional recovery as a function of resuscitation effort duration to identify this transition point.

METHODS AND RESULTS

Retrospective cohort study of a cardiac arrest database at a single site. We included 1014 adult (≥18 years) patients experiencing nontraumatic out-of-hospital cardiac arrest between 2005 and 2011, defined as receiving cardiopulmonary resuscitation or defibrillation from a professional provider. We stratified by functional outcome at hospital discharge (modified Rankin scale). Survival to hospital discharge was 11%, but only 6% had a modified Rankin scale of 0 to 3. Within 16.1 minutes of cardiopulmonary resuscitation, 89.7% (95% confidence interval, 80.3%-95.8%) of patients with good functional outcome had achieved return of spontaneous circulation, and the probability of good functional recovery fell to 1%. Adjusting for prehospital and inpatient covariates, cardiopulmonary resuscitation duration (minutes) is independently associated with favorable functional status at hospital discharge (odds ratio, 0.84; 95% confidence interval, 0.72-0.98; P=0.02).

CONCLUSIONS

The probability of survival to hospital discharge with a modified Rankin scale of 0 to 3 declines rapidly with each minute of cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Novel strategies should be tested early after cardiac arrest rather than after the complete failure of traditional measures.

Validation of 3 termination of resuscitation criteria for good neurologic survival after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest

STUDY OBJECTIVE

Several termination of resuscitation criteria have been proposed to identify patients who will not survive to hospital discharge after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. However, only 1 set has been derived to specifically predict survival to hospital discharge with good neurologic function. The objectives of this study were to externally validate the basic life support (BLS) termination of resuscitation, advanced life support (ALS) termination of resuscitation, and neurologic termination of resuscitation criteria and compare their abilities to predict survival to hospital discharge with good neurologic function after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest.

METHODS

This was a secondary analysis of the Denver Cardiac Arrest Registry. Consecutive adult nontraumatic cardiac arrest patients in Denver County from January 1, 2003, through December 31, 2004, were included in the study. The BLS termination of resuscitation, ALS termination of resuscitation, and neurologic termination of resuscitation criteria were applied to the cohort, and their predictive proportions and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated for each set of criteria.

RESULTS

Of the 715 patients included in this study, the median age was 65 years (interquartile range 52 to 78 years), and 69% were male patients. In addition, 223 (31%) had return of spontaneous circulation, 175 (24%) survived to hospital admission, 58 (8%) survived to hospital discharge, and 42 (6%) survived to hospital discharge with good neurologic function. The proportion of patients with good neurologic survival to hospital discharge correctly identified for continued resuscitation was 100% (95% CI 92% to 100%) for all 3 termination of resuscitation criteria. The proportion of patients with poor neurologic survival to hospital discharge or no survival to hospital discharge correctly identified as eligible for termination of resuscitation was 36% (95% CI 32% to 40%) with the BLS termination of resuscitation criteria, 25% (95% CI 22% to 29%) with the ALS termination of resuscitation criteria, and 6% (95% CI 4% to 8%) with the neurologic termination of resuscitation criteria. Use of the BLS termination of resuscitation criteria would have reduced transport of the largest number of patients.

CONCLUSION

All 3 termination of resuscitation criteria had equally high abilities to identify patients requiring continued resuscitation. The BLS termination of resuscitation criteria, however, had the best combined ability to predict good neurologic survival and poor neurologic survival or death. These findings and the relative simplicity of the BLS termination of resuscitation criteria support their use.