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Cooling Patients

Tue, 08/06/2010 - 6:26pm

Cooling patients in post non-traumatic cardiac arrest

 

Over the past couple of years Ambulance Service Victoria has been undertaking clinical trials with the cooling of non-traumatic post cardiac arrest patients (to around 33.5º C) by using ice cold IV Normal Saline (2litres bolus dose). The objective has been

to give patient’s a better chance of being "neurologically intact" as the brain can be affected by the lack of blood reaching it during a cardiac arrest.

We have been advised that to date there has been no significant improvement in outcomes within the pre-hospital field, however it has become a part of the overall patient management for pre and in-hospital management. (findings to be published soon).

Interestingly, in the US (Las Vegas) they have allegedly had interesting results from a smaller sample group. F

For First Aiders though, CPR & Defibrillation still remains the ‘key’ to saving lives until the arrival of an Ambulance.

rom August of 2008 to mid-April, 64 cardiac arrest patients met the required criteria: 12 survived, and 11 of those were neurologically intact.