Optimal paramedic numbers in resuscitation of patients with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest: A randomized controlled study in a simulation setting.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The effect of paramedic crew size in the resuscitation of patients with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) remains inconclusive. We hypothesised that teams with a larger crew size have better resuscitation performance including chest compression fraction (CCF), advanced life support (ALS), and teamwork performance than those with a smaller crew size.

Methods

We conducted a randomized controlled study in a simulation setting. A total of 140 paramedics from New Taipei City were obtained by stratified sampling and were randomly allocated to 35 teams with crew sizes of 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 (i.e. 7 teams in every paramedic crew size). A scenario involving an OHCA patient who experienced ventricular fibrillation and was attached to a cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR)

SUBMITTER: Tsai BM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7340314 | biostudies-literature | 2020

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature