In-hospital cardiac arrest: what happens to the false arrests?

Emergency care within hospitals: can it be done more efficiently?

INTRODUCTION

Cardiac Arrest Teams (CATs) are frequently activated by nurses when patients experience 'false arrests' (FAs). In those cases activation of the Rapid Response Team (RRT) might be more efficient. The authors determined the level of urgency of FAs to find a scope for improvement in efficiency within emergency care.

METHODS

CAT-activations for FAs in a university hospital from September 2009 to 2012 were retrospectively analysed and classified as urgent or less-urgent.

RESULTS

In 26% (107/405) the CAT was activated for FAs. Calls were classified as urgent in 43% (46/107). Less urgent calls comprised 57% (61/107) of the FAs, difference 14% (95%CI: 1% to 26%).

CONCLUSIONS

A significant part of the CAT-activations for FAs were less urgent and an RRT-activation might be more efficient. To minimise the CAT-activations for FAs, nurses need to recognise early patients who clinically deteriorate. Therefore, nurses should use the Modified Early Warning Score correctly.

Is ward experience in resuscitation effort related to the prognosis of unexpected cardiac arrest?

BACKGROUND

The aim of this study was to investigate the outcome of patients of unexpected cardiac arrest initially resuscitated by first responders with dissimilar experiences under the support of cardiac arrest team (CAT).

METHODS

All unexpected cardiac arrest patients receiving in-hospital resuscitation with the activation of CAT in a tertiary-care teaching hospital over a 12-month period were recorded according to the Utstein criteria. We prospectively recorded various factors at resuscitation and retrospectively evaluated the outcome. Outcome measures included return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC), survival longer than 24 hours, and survival to discharge.

RESULTS

Altogether, 76 emergency calls were registered, and among these, 44 calls (58%) were cardiac arrests, including 8 ventricular tachycardia/fibrillation, 15 pulseless electrical activity, and 21 asystole. The rate of ROSC was 61%, the rate of survival longer than 24 hours was 37%, and the rate of survival to discharge was 18%. The response time of our CAT was 271 seconds (4 minutes and 31 seconds) on average. The patients who collapsed in the wards experienced in resuscitation effort received higher rates of appropriate basic and advanced cardiac life support interventions before CAT arrival (79% vs. 44%; p = 0.019), had an increased chance of ROSC (75% vs. 38%; p = 0.014), survival longer than 24 hours (54% vs. 13%; p = 0.007), and survival to discharge (29% vs. 0%; p = 0.036).

CONCLUSION

Hospital wards with more than 5 cardiac arrests per year have a better patient survival rate than those with fewer arrests. This is despite all ward staff receiving the same level of training.

False cardiac arrests: the right time to turn away?

AIM

Cardiac arrest teams may be activated only to find that the patient does not require cardiac or respiratory resuscitation. Members of the cardiac arrest team are drawn from medical personnel with other responsibilities who may disperse quickly, leaving ongoing care of the patient to existing ward staff. The outcome for such false cardiac arrests, however, is rarely reported. The objective of this study was to determine the causes of false cardiac arrest team alerts (FCAs) and to assess the outcome of these patients relative to the general hospital population.

SETTING

Tertiary care hospital.

PARTICIPANTS

Patients subject to a cardiac arrest call who were found not to require basic or advanced cardiac life support on arrival.

RESULTS

In 512 events over a 1-year period, patients suffering FCAs were more likely to survive compared to patients suffering cardiac arrest (15% vs 73%, odds ratio (OR) 14.95; chi2 p< or =0.0001), but significantly less likely to survive than the general hospitalised population (73% vs 97%, OR 14.15; chi2 p< or =0.0001). The cause of the FCA was often minimised as collapse or vasovagal syncope; in 58% (87/150) of cases no further action was taken by the attending medical team. Patients suffering FCAs tended to be long-stay patients with a worse outcome at weekends.

CONCLUSION

In areas lacking a medical alert, outreach or patient at risk system, particular attention should be paid to optimising care of those suffering FCAs.

A cross-sectional survey of levels of care and response mechanisms for evolving critical illness in hospitalized children

OBJECTIVES

Recognition and treatment of evolving critical illness is a fundamental element of hospital care. Hospital systems should triage patients to receive appropriate levels of care. We describe here the levels of care, the frequency of near or actual cardiopulmonary arrest (code-blue events), identification mechanisms, and responses to evolving critical illness in hospitalized children.

METHODS

A cross-sectional telephone survey of Canadian and American hospitals with > or = 50 pediatric acute care beds or > or = 2 pediatric wards was performed. Regression analysis identified factors associated with the frequency of code-blue events after adjustment for hospital volume.

RESULTS

Responses from 388 (84%) hospitals identified the 181 eligible pediatric hospitals included in this survey. All had a PICU, 99 (55%) had high-dependency units, 101 (56%) had extracorporeal membrane oxygenation therapy, and 69 (38%) used extracorporeal membrane oxygenation therapy for refractory cardiopulmonary arrest. All of the hospitals had immediate-response teams. They were activated 4676 times in the previous 12 months. Twenty-four percent of hospitals had activation criteria for immediate-response teams. Urgent-response teams to treat children who were clinically deteriorating but not at immediate risk of cardiopulmonary arrest were available in 136 (75%) hospitals; 29 (17%) had formal medical emergency teams, and 92 (51%) consulted the PICU. Code-blue events were more common in hospitals with extracorporeal membrane oxygenation therapy, cardiopulmonary bypass, and larger PICU size.

CONCLUSIONS

Currently, the organization of Canadian and American pediatric hospitals includes dedicated areas to match patient acuity and additional personnel to stabilize and facilitate transfer. The functioning of these systems of care results in calls for immediate medical assistance for ward patients approximately 5000 times annually.

In-hospital cardiac arrest: Is outcome related to the time of arrest?

BACKGROUND

Whether outcome from in-hospital cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is poorer when it occurs during the night remains controversial. This study examined the relationship between CPR during the various hospital shifts and survival to discharge.

METHODS

CPR attempts occurring in a tertiary hospital with a dedicated, certified resuscitation team were recorded prospectively (Utstein template guidelines) over 24 months. Medical records and patient characteristics were retrieved from patient admission files.

RESULTS

Included were 174 in-hospital cardiac arrests; 43%, 32% and 25% in morning evening and night shifts, respectively. Shift populations were comparable in demographic and treatment related variables. Asystole (p < 0.01) and unwitnessed arrests (p = 0.05) were more common during the night. Survival to discharge was poorer following night shift CPR than following morning and evening shift CPR (p = 0.04). When asystole (being synonymous with death) was excluded from the analysis, the odds of survival to discharge was not higher for witnessed compared to unwitnessed arrest but was 4.9 times higher if the cardiac arrest did not occur during the night shift (p = 0.05, logistic regression). The relative risk of eventual in-hospital death for patients with return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC) following night shift resuscitation was 1.9 that of those with ROSC following morning or evening resuscitation (Cox regression).

CONCLUSIONS

Although unwitnessed arrest is more prevalent during night shift, resuscitation during this shift is associated with poorer outcomes independently of witnessed status. Further research is required into the causes for the increased mortality observed after night shift resuscitation.

Characteristics and outcome of false cardiac arrests in hospital

BACKGROUND

Not all hospitalised patients with symptoms of a presumed or threatened cardiac arrest, for whom the rescue team is alerted, eventually suffer a cardiac arrest. This article aims to describe the characteristics and outcome of "false cardiac arrests".

METHODS

All patients hospitalised at Sahlgrenska University Hospital for whom the rescue team was alerted between 1 November 1994 and 15 October 2002 were included.

RESULTS

In all, there were 1538 calls for the rescue team, of which 70% were caused by cardiac arrest, 9% by respiratory arrest and 21% by "other causes". Survival to discharge was 36% among patients with cardiac arrest, 64% among patients with respiratory arrest and 77% among patients with "other reasons for calling" (p<0.0001 for trend). Among survivors, a cerebral performance categories (CPC) score of 1 at hospital discharge was found in 83% of those with a cardiac arrest, 59% with respiratory arrest and 82% with other reasons for calling (NS for trend).

CONCLUSION

Among patients at a Swedish university hospital for whom the rescue team was alerted, about one-third have a "false cardiac arrest". These patients had a survival rate which was about twice that of patients with a "true cardiac arrest". However, among survivors, cerebral function at discharge was similar, regardless of "false" or "true" cardiac arrest.