Three Pillars for Pediatric Resuscitation Success
Wed, Feb 27, 2019 By Peter Antevy, MD, MPH
EMS leadership and their communication center counterparts should review all pediatric arrest calls within 72 hours to better understand and correct issues that may exist. Photo Chris Swabb
EMS leadership and their communication center counterparts should review all pediatric arrest calls within 72 hours to better understand and correct issues that may exist. Photo Chris Swabb
Data from the American Heart Association and the Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS) guidelines consistently report neurologically intact survival from pediatric cardiac arrest to be 3% for infants and 10% for children. This pediatric survival data has remained unchanged for decades without a clear vision or path to improved survival statistics.
Change is needed, and we recommend focusing on the following three pillars in order to achieve success in pediatric cardiac arrest: 1) bystander CPR; 2) telecommunicator CPR (TCPR); and 3) on-scene EMS resuscitation. Using a different lens to evaluate these links in the chain of survival may provide a different perspective, and inform the way forward.
In the United States today, children in cardiac arrest have less than a 50% likelihood of receiving bystander CPR. The solution to this dilemma has remained elusive, proving to be a difficult problem to solve; yet correcting it may yield the biggest impact on survival. Resolution of this problem is beyond the scope of this write-up.
Often called the “first first responders,” call-takers are critically important to the survival of those found in cardiac arrest. Time-to-recognition of cardiac arrest and time to hands-on-chest are of critical importance to survival, yet call-taker performance isn’t being currently measured by these two key performance indicators.
The AHA recently released guidelines targeting 1 minute for arrest recognition and 2 minutes for hands-on-chest in high-performing systems, yet EMS agencies have yet to incorporate these metrics into their cardiac arrest CQI processes. Furthermore, call-takers are “gun-shy” in both the initiation and continuation of CPR in children, for reasons that remain elusive, and which require further study.
Like adults, children who don’t receive CPR prior to arrival of EMS have significantly decreased odds of survival. We therefore advocate that EMS leadership and their communication center counterparts review all pediatric arrest calls within 72 hours to better understand and correct issues that may exist.
Every call should, at a minimum, have the two KPIs listed above consistently reported as quality metrics to both EMS and communication center leadership. Additionally, resuscitation-specific education must be provided to call-takers in order to emphasize the rapid initiation of CPR, as well as a sustained commitment to continuation, even when distracting information has been obtained.
The practice of “load and go” remains pervasive in the prehospital environment and the reasons for it are deeply rooted and complex. High-performance CPR is as much a regimented physical process as it is a mental one, with the later strongly linked to on-scene performance. The goal of every resuscitation should be getting each provider to closure, something that can only be accomplished by perfecting the pre-arrival and on-scene sequences.
Pre-Arrival Discussion Is Critical
A deliberate pre-arrival discussion is crucial in pediatrics and differs from the adult call, which is primarily non-verbal (due to standardized dosing and equipment sizing). This mental readiness impacts the confidence of EMS professionals prior to arrival on scene and ultimately impacts their ability to initiate high-performance CPR in the presence of family and onlookers. A mandatory pre-arrival discussion for pediatric calls arms EMS providers with critical information such as equipment sizing, epinephrine dosing and electrical values and signals team members to, not only stay on scene, but to also stay in their lanes.
When performed this way, on-scene care can finally resemble that of an adult, therefore minimizing the urge to rush off the scene with a pulseless child. An immediate post-incident review with the medical director, including a review of the 9-1-1 audio, strengthens the message of high-performance on-scene care, while simultaneously providing a case-by-case evaluation of bystander and telephone CPR. A quarterly report evaluating the three pillars outlined above (i.e., bystander, telecommunicator, EMS) will provide a clear view of where the disparities exist and highlight areas for improvement within a given community.
“Treating kids like we treat adults” is still considered blasphemy, mainly due to the medical sub-specialization that’s occurred in the house of medicine, but particularly in pediatrics. The unchanged pediatric survival statistics are a cry for help, calling out to the lay public and prehospital professionals for change. Pediatric resuscitative care desperately needs to realign with its adult counterpart, and this will require a foundational adjustment. Beyond the more difficult bystander issue, telephone CPR and EMS care are the low-hanging fruit and can be easily be “nudged” into alignment.
A large Florida fire department recently reported sustained survival rates of 35% since implementing enhanced TCPR, pre-arrival planning of dosing and equipment, and high-performance on-scene care, a change from 0% the two years prior.1
Kids in cardiac arrest are no different than adults in cardiac arrest. There, we said it … now let’s get to work!
Reference
1. Banerjee PR, Ganti L, Pepe PE, et al. Early on-scene management of pediatric out-of-hospital cardiac arrest can result in improved chances for neurologically-intact survival. Resuscitation. Nov. 6, 2018. [Epub ahead of print.]
By
Peter Antevy, MD, MPH
Peter Antevy, MD, is a pediatric emergency medicine physician at Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital in South Florida and the founder of Pediatric Emergency Standards Inc. He serves as the medical director for Coral Springs Fire Department, Davie Fire Rescue, Southwest Ranches Fire Rescue and Palm Beach County Fire Rescue in Florida.
Wed, Feb 27, 2019 By Peter Antevy, MD, MPH
EMS leadership and their communication center counterparts should review all pediatric arrest calls within 72 hours to better understand and correct issues that may exist. Photo Chris Swabb
EMS leadership and their communication center counterparts should review all pediatric arrest calls within 72 hours to better understand and correct issues that may exist. Photo Chris Swabb
Data from the American Heart Association and the Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS) guidelines consistently report neurologically intact survival from pediatric cardiac arrest to be 3% for infants and 10% for children. This pediatric survival data has remained unchanged for decades without a clear vision or path to improved survival statistics.
Change is needed, and we recommend focusing on the following three pillars in order to achieve success in pediatric cardiac arrest: 1) bystander CPR; 2) telecommunicator CPR (TCPR); and 3) on-scene EMS resuscitation. Using a different lens to evaluate these links in the chain of survival may provide a different perspective, and inform the way forward.
In the United States today, children in cardiac arrest have less than a 50% likelihood of receiving bystander CPR. The solution to this dilemma has remained elusive, proving to be a difficult problem to solve; yet correcting it may yield the biggest impact on survival. Resolution of this problem is beyond the scope of this write-up.
Often called the “first first responders,” call-takers are critically important to the survival of those found in cardiac arrest. Time-to-recognition of cardiac arrest and time to hands-on-chest are of critical importance to survival, yet call-taker performance isn’t being currently measured by these two key performance indicators.
The AHA recently released guidelines targeting 1 minute for arrest recognition and 2 minutes for hands-on-chest in high-performing systems, yet EMS agencies have yet to incorporate these metrics into their cardiac arrest CQI processes. Furthermore, call-takers are “gun-shy” in both the initiation and continuation of CPR in children, for reasons that remain elusive, and which require further study.
Like adults, children who don’t receive CPR prior to arrival of EMS have significantly decreased odds of survival. We therefore advocate that EMS leadership and their communication center counterparts review all pediatric arrest calls within 72 hours to better understand and correct issues that may exist.
Every call should, at a minimum, have the two KPIs listed above consistently reported as quality metrics to both EMS and communication center leadership. Additionally, resuscitation-specific education must be provided to call-takers in order to emphasize the rapid initiation of CPR, as well as a sustained commitment to continuation, even when distracting information has been obtained.
The practice of “load and go” remains pervasive in the prehospital environment and the reasons for it are deeply rooted and complex. High-performance CPR is as much a regimented physical process as it is a mental one, with the later strongly linked to on-scene performance. The goal of every resuscitation should be getting each provider to closure, something that can only be accomplished by perfecting the pre-arrival and on-scene sequences.
Pre-Arrival Discussion Is Critical
A deliberate pre-arrival discussion is crucial in pediatrics and differs from the adult call, which is primarily non-verbal (due to standardized dosing and equipment sizing). This mental readiness impacts the confidence of EMS professionals prior to arrival on scene and ultimately impacts their ability to initiate high-performance CPR in the presence of family and onlookers. A mandatory pre-arrival discussion for pediatric calls arms EMS providers with critical information such as equipment sizing, epinephrine dosing and electrical values and signals team members to, not only stay on scene, but to also stay in their lanes.
When performed this way, on-scene care can finally resemble that of an adult, therefore minimizing the urge to rush off the scene with a pulseless child. An immediate post-incident review with the medical director, including a review of the 9-1-1 audio, strengthens the message of high-performance on-scene care, while simultaneously providing a case-by-case evaluation of bystander and telephone CPR. A quarterly report evaluating the three pillars outlined above (i.e., bystander, telecommunicator, EMS) will provide a clear view of where the disparities exist and highlight areas for improvement within a given community.
“Treating kids like we treat adults” is still considered blasphemy, mainly due to the medical sub-specialization that’s occurred in the house of medicine, but particularly in pediatrics. The unchanged pediatric survival statistics are a cry for help, calling out to the lay public and prehospital professionals for change. Pediatric resuscitative care desperately needs to realign with its adult counterpart, and this will require a foundational adjustment. Beyond the more difficult bystander issue, telephone CPR and EMS care are the low-hanging fruit and can be easily be “nudged” into alignment.
A large Florida fire department recently reported sustained survival rates of 35% since implementing enhanced TCPR, pre-arrival planning of dosing and equipment, and high-performance on-scene care, a change from 0% the two years prior.1
Kids in cardiac arrest are no different than adults in cardiac arrest. There, we said it … now let’s get to work!
Reference
1. Banerjee PR, Ganti L, Pepe PE, et al. Early on-scene management of pediatric out-of-hospital cardiac arrest can result in improved chances for neurologically-intact survival. Resuscitation. Nov. 6, 2018. [Epub ahead of print.]
By
Peter Antevy, MD, MPH
Peter Antevy, MD, is a pediatric emergency medicine physician at Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital in South Florida and the founder of Pediatric Emergency Standards Inc. He serves as the medical director for Coral Springs Fire Department, Davie Fire Rescue, Southwest Ranches Fire Rescue and Palm Beach County Fire Rescue in Florida.
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