Risk factors for failed first intubation attempt in an out-of-hospital setting: a multicenter prospective study

This study was performed to identify variables potentially associated with failure of the first intubation attempt in an out-of-hospital emergency setting, considering all aspects of tracheal intubation. This observational prospective multicenter study was performed over 17 months and involved 10 prehospital emergency medical units. After each tracheal intubation, the operator was required to provide information concerning operator and patient characteristics, as well as the environmental conditions during intubation, by completing a data collection form. The primary endpoint was failure of the first intubation attempt. During the study period, 1546 patients were analyzed, of whom 59% were in cardiac arrest; 486 intubations failed on the first attempt (31.4% [95% confidence interval = 30.2-32.6]). Multivariate analysis revealed that the following 7 of 28 factors were associated with an increased risk of a failed first intubation attempt: operator with fewer than 50 prior intubations (odds ratio [OR] = 1.8 [1.4-2.4]), small inter-incisor space (OR = 2.3 [1.7-3.2]), limited extension of the head (OR = 1.6 [1.1-2.1]), macroglossia (OR = 2.3 [1.6-3.2]), ear/nose/throat (ENT) tumor (OR = 4.4 [1.4-13.4]), cardiac arrest (OR = 1.8 [1.3-2.6]), and vomiting (OR = 1.7 [1.3-2.3]). The frequency of adverse events among non-cardiac arrest patients was 17.6%; it increased with each additional intubation attempt. The first intubation attempt failed in more than 30% of cases, and seven variables were associated with increased risk of failure. Most of these factors could not be predicted.

Le mandrin long béquillé : est-ce systématique ?

L’intubation trachéale (IT) est un geste fréquent en médecine d’urgence extra-hospitalière (MUEH) mais elle est associée à un taux élevé d’échec de la première tentative et à certaines complications graves. Le taux de ces dernières augmente avec le nombre de tentative d’IT. La Société française d’anesthésie et de réanimation (SFAR) et la Société de réanimation de langue française (SRLF) avec la collaboration de la Société française de médecine d’urgence (SFMU) ont publié en 2016 des recommandations formalisées d’experts (RFE) sur l’intubation du patient de réanimation. La question qui se pose est la pertinence de ces recommandations pour la MUEH. En effet, la mesure du risque de difficulté est basée sur le score de MACOCHA et en cas de difficulté prévue les outils à utiliser d’emblée sont le vidéo-laryngoscope ou le mandrin long béquillé en laryngoscopie directe. Or il apparait que le score de MACOCHA n’est pas adapté à la MUEH et de façon plus générale, il est complexe de mesurer le risque d’intubation difficile (ID) dans ce contexte. La vidéolaryngoscopie n’a pas encore fait la preuve de sa supériorité par rapport à la laryngoscopie directe en MUEH. Par contre des travaux récents en médecine d’urgence ont démontré que l’utilisation en première intention du mandrin long béquillé augmente significativement le taux de succès de la première tentative de l’IT, même en l’absence de facteur de risque d’ID. Au total, on pourrait considérer chaque IT en MUEH comme a priori à risque de difficulté ce qui justifierait une utilisation d’emblée du mandrin long béquillé. Il semble nécessaire de proposer des recommandations spécifiques à la médecine d’urgence.

Predicting drowning from sea and weather forecasts: development and validation of a model on surf beaches of southwestern France

Objective

To predict the coast-wide risk of drowning along the surf beaches of Gironde, southwestern France.

Methods

Data on rescues and drownings were collected from the Medical Emergency Center of Gironde (SAMU 33). Seasonality, holidays, weekends, weather and metocean conditions were considered potentially predictive. Logistic regression models were fitted with data from 2011 to 2013 and used to predict 2015–2017 events employing weather and ocean forecasts.

Results

Air temperature, wave parameters, seasonality and holidays were associated with drownings. Prospective validation was performed on 617 days, covering 232 events (rescues and drownings) reported on 104 different days. The area under the curve (AUC) of the daily risk prediction model (combined with 3-day forecasts) was 0.82 (95% CI 0.79 to 0.86). The AUC of the 3-hour step model was 0.85 (95% CI 0.81 to 0.88).

Conclusions

Drowning events along the Gironde surf coast can be anticipated up to 3 days in advance. Preventative messages and rescue preparations could be increased as the forecast risk increased, especially during the off-peak season, when the number of available rescuers is low.

Characteristics of drowning victims in a surf environment: a 6-year retrospective study in southwestern France

Background

Drowning is the third cause of non-intentional injury death worldwide. Beaches of Gironde, in southwestern France, are exposed to strong environmental conditions, leading to rip currents and shore breaks. Bathing season usually lasts from April to October and is supervised from June till mid-September. The objective of this study was to study the characteristics of drowning victims along Gironde surf beaches and to identify peculiarities compared to national figures.

Methods

All calls originating from beaches to the emergency call center of Gironde from 2011 to 2016 were analyzed. Patient data, filled by a physician based on information given by pre-hospital care team (lifeguards, paramedics or emergency physicians), were extracted from the emergency call center database. We used Szpilman classification (0 = rescue to 6 = cardiac arrest) to assess severity. Rescues are patients without respiratory impairment who needed lifeguards or helicopter intervention. We compared our findings with national studies carried every three years (2012 and 2015).

Results

We analyzed 5680 calls from beaches and included 4398, 576 of which were rescued from the water, including 352 without respiratory impairment (stage 0). Among drownings, 155 had cough only (stage 1), 26 pulmonary rales (stage 2), 9 pulmonary edema (stage 3) and 1 had pulmonary edema with hypotension (stage 4). Five rescued people were in respiratory arrest and 28 were in cardiac arrest. 77.5% were bathers, others were mainly surfers or body-boarders. Drowning victims median age was 24 (quartiles: 17–40), and sex-ratio was 1.44 Male/Female. Men were significantly older than women (34 vs. 26 years old), and severity from stage 1 to 4 was positively associated with age. Compared to national data, Gironde drownings had a higher proportion of 15–44 year-old victims, and the case-fatality was lower in Gironde (11.5%) than at the national level (27.4%, p < 0.001).

Conclusion

Along Gironde coast, drowning is rarely severe, concerns mostly young men; the age distribution could explain the different case-fatality. Further study is needed to identify environmental predictors of drowning.