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Martin Harpsø,1,2 Asger Granfeldt,3 Bo Løfgren,1,4,5 Charles D Deakin6 1Research Center for Emergency Medicine, Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus, Denmark; 2Department of Internal Medicine, Regional Hospital of Horsens, Horsens, Denmark; 3Department of Intensive Care, Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus, Denmark; 4Department of Internal Medicine, Regional Hospital of Randers, Randers, Denmark; 5Department of Cardiology, Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus, Denmark; 6Respiratory Biomedical Research Unit, University Hospital Southampton, UK Purpose: Oxygen supplementation has previously been considered beneficial when managing critically ill patients in order to avoid hypoxia. However, in recent years, studies have shown that hyperoxia may be harmful in critical care patients. The aim of the study was to investigate whether hyperoxia within the first 24 hours of admission following major trauma is associated with 30-day in-hospital mortality. Patients and methods: We conducted a retrospective database study of trauma patients admitted to the general intensive care unit at University Hospital Southampton from October 2008 to October 2014. Hyperoxia was defined as one arterial blood gas with a pO2 ≥40.0 kPa during the first 24 hours of admission. Cox proportional hazards regression was used to compare 30-day in-hospital mortality between the two groups. HRs for death were calculated with 95% CIs and presented as both unadjusted and adjusted for age, sex, Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II (APACHE II) score and number of arterial blood gases. Results: In total, 1,462 patients had trauma as the cause for admission. Of these, 343 patients met the study inclusion criteria, of which 265 were defined as normoxic and the remaining 78 patients as hyperoxic. The cumulative in-hospital risk of death within 30 days was 7.8% (95% CI: 4.9%–12.5%) for the normoxia group and 9.7% (95% CI: 4.4 %–20.4%) for the hyperoxia group. The crude HR for 30-day in-hospital mortality was 1.15 (95% CI: 0.45–2.90) for hyperoxia compared to normoxia. Adjusting for APACHE II, age, sex and number of arterial blood gases yielded an adjusted HR of 30-day in-hospital mortality of 0.65 (95% CI: 0.24–1.73) for the hyperoxia group compared to the normoxia group. Conclusion: In our convenience sample of 343 patients, hyperoxia within the first 24 hours following admission to intensive care with major trauma had no impact on 30-day in-hospital mortality. Keywords: oxygen, APACHE, arterial blood gas, in-hospital mortality

Paramedic tracheal intubation has been practised in the UK for more than 20 years and is currently a core skill for paramedics. Growing evidence suggests that tracheal intubation is not the optimal method of airway management by paramedics and may be detrimental to patient outcomes. There is also evidence that the current initial training of 25 intubations performed in-hospital is inadequate, and that the lack of ongoing intubation practice may compound this further. Supraglottic airway devices (eg, laryngeal mask airway), which were not available when extended training and paramedic intubation was first introduced, are now in use in many ambulance services and are a suitable alternative prehospital airway device for paramedics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: As many as half the patients presenting with acute stroke access medical care through the ambulance service. In order to identify and triage these patients effectively as life-threatening emergencies, telephone-based ambulance software must have high sensitivity and specificity when using verbal descriptions to identify such patients. Software-based clinical coding was compared with the patient's final clinical diagnosis for all patients admitted by ambulance to North Hampshire Hospital (NHH) emergency department (ED) over a 6-month period to establish the ability of telephone-based triage to identify patients with likely stroke accurately. METHODS: All emergency calls to South Central Ambulance Service over a 6-month period resulting in a patient being taken to NHH ED were reviewed. The classification allocated to the patient by ambulance advanced medical priority dispatch software (AMPDS version 11.1) was compared with the final clinical diagnosis made by a doctor in the ED. RESULTS: 4810 patients were admitted to NHH during the study period. Of these, 126 patients were subsequently diagnosed as having had a stroke. The sensitivity of AMPDS software for detecting stroke in this sample was 47.62%, specificity was 98.68%, positive predictive value was 0.49 and negative predictive value was 0.986. CONCLUSIONS: Fewer than half of all patients with acute stroke were identified using telephone triage on the initial emergency call to the ambulance service. Less than one quarter received the highest priority of ambulance response. This first link in the chain of survival needs strengthening in order to provide prompt and timely emergency care for these patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The pain of venous cannulation and arterial puncture can be greatly lessened by local anaesthesia. We sought information about the use of local anaesthesia for these procedures by doctors working in medicine, surgery and anaesthetics. A questionnaire was hand-delivered to 178 doctors in eight hospitals, all of whom responded. For insertion of large-bore cannulae, local anaesthesia was used by all the anaesthetists but less than half the medical and surgical doctors. For arterial blood sampling it was used by 60% of anaesthetists and 2% of ward doctors. Previous recommendations to use local anaesthesia seem to have been ignored, and in many instances these procedures are more painful than necessary. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This is the eighth annual summary of the International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation International Consensus on Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation and Emergency Cardiovascular Care Science With Treatment Recommendations; a more comprehensive review was done in 2020. This latest summary addresses the most recent published resuscitation evidence reviewed by the International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation task force science experts. Members from 6 International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation task forces have assessed, discussed, and debated the quality of the evidence, using Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation criteria, and their statements include consensus treatment recommendations. Insights into the deliberations of the task forces are provided in the Justification and Evidence-to-Decision Framework Highlights sections. In addition, the task forces list priority knowledge gaps for further research., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 European Resuscitation Council, American Heart Association Inc., International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Background: In patients with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, the effectiveness of drugs such as epinephrine is highly time-dependent. An intraosseous route of drug administration may enable more rapid drug administration than an intravenous route; however, its effect on clinical outcomes is uncertain., Methods: We conducted a multicenter, open-label, randomized trial across 11 emergency medical systems in the United Kingdom that involved adults in cardiac arrest for whom vascular access for drug administration was needed. Patients were randomly assigned to receive treatment from paramedics by means of an intraosseous-first or intravenous-first vascular access strategy. The primary outcome was survival at 30 days. Key secondary outcomes included any return of spontaneous circulation and favorable neurologic function at hospital discharge (defined by a score of 3 or less on the modified Rankin scale, on which scores range from 0 to 6, with higher scores indicating greater disability). No adjustment for multiplicity was made., Results: A total of 6082 patients were assigned to a trial group: 3040 to the intraosseous group and 3042 to the intravenous group. At 30 days, 137 of 3030 patients (4.5%) in the intraosseous group and 155 of 3034 (5.1%) in the intravenous group were alive (adjusted odds ratio, 0.94; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.68 to 1.32; P = 0.74). At the time of hospital discharge, a favorable neurologic outcome was observed in 80 of 2994 patients (2.7%) in the intraosseous group and in 85 of 2986 (2.8%) in the intravenous group (adjusted odds ratio, 0.91; 95% CI, 0.57 to 1.47); a return of spontaneous circulation at any time occurred in 1092 of 3031 patients (36.0%) and in 1186 of 3035 patients (39.1%), respectively (adjusted odds ratio, 0.86; 95% CI, 0.76 to 0.97). During the trial, one adverse event, which occurred in the intraosseous group, was reported., Conclusions: Among adults with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest requiring drug therapy, the use of an intraosseous-first vascular access strategy did not result in higher 30-day survival than an intravenous-first strategy. (Funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research; PARAMEDIC-3 ISRCTN Registry number, ISRCTN14223494.)., (Copyright © 2024 Massachusetts Medical Society.)

Objective: This review summarises the current evidence base for combinations of neuroprotective CPR adjuncts (active compression-decompression chest compressions, impedance threshold devices, and head-up positioning) during out-of-hospital cardiac arrest., Methods: A systematic search (PROSPERO registration CRD42023432302) was performed in English on MEDLINE, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Library in August 2023, and repeated in February 2024. All randomised and observational studies (not abstracts) reporting on any combination of the aforementioned CPR adjuncts were included. Papers were screened independently by two researchers, with a third reviewer acting as tiebreaker. Out-of-hospital, non-traumatic, cardiac arrests in patients >18 years were eligible for inclusion. Risk of bias was assessed using the Risk of Bias 2 tool and the Newcastle-Ottawa scale., Results: Eight of 1172 unique articles identified in the initial searches were included, with five randomised controlled trials and three observational studies. No randomised trial investigated a bundle of all three interventions. All randomised controlled trials were at intermediate or high risk of bias. Neurologically favourable survival was greater in patients treated with an impedance threshold device and active compression-decompression CPR when compared to standard CPR (8.9% vs 5.8%, p  = 0.019) in the largest existing randomised trial. Conflicting results were found in observational studies comparing the complete neuroprotective bundle to standard CPR., Conclusions: This review was limited by small study numbers and overlapping samples, which precluded a meta-analysis. Limited data suggests that combinations of adjuncts to improve cerebral perfusion during CPR may improve survival with favourable neurological outcome. A randomised controlled trial is required to establish whether combining all three together results in improved outcomes., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (© 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Background: Early cardiopulmonary resuscitation and defibrillation is key to increasing survival following an out-of-hospital-cardiac-arrest (OHCA). However, automated external defibrillators (AEDs) are used in a very small percentage of cases. Despite large numbers of AEDs in the community, the absence of a unified system for registering their locations across the UK's ambulance services may have resulted in missed opportunities to save lives. Therefore, representatives from the resuscitation community worked alongside ambulance services to develop a single repository for data on the location of AEDs in the UK., Methods: A national defibrillator network, "The Circuit", was developed by the British Heart Foundation in collaboration with the Association of Ambulance Chief Executives, the UK ambulance services, the Resuscitation Council UK and St John Ambulance. The database allows individuals or organisations to record information about AED location, accessibility, and availability. The database synchronises with ambulance computer aided dispatch systems to provide UK ambulance services with real-time information on the nearest, available AED., Results: The Circuit was successfully rolled out to all 14 UK ambulance services. Since 2019, 82,108 AEDs have been registered. Of the AED data collected by The Circuit, 54% were not previously registered to any ambulance service, and are therefore new registrations., Conclusion: The Circuit provides ambulance services with a single point of access to AED locations in the UK. Since the launch of the system the number of defibrillators registered has doubled. Linking the Circuit data with patient outcome data will help understand whether improving the accessibility to AEDs is associated with increased survival., Competing Interests: The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests: ‘Authors listed as affiliated to the BHF are employees of the BHF, a registered charity in England and Wales, Scotland and the Isle of Man. The BHF is the main funder of The Circuit and responsible for its administration. The author listed as affiliated to NHS England (NHSE) is a former employee of NHSE. NHSE is a co-funder of The Circuit. Authors listed as affiliated to the Resuscitation Council UK (RCUK) are employees of the Resuscitation Council UK a registered charity in England and Wales. The RCUK is a co-funder of The Circuit. Authors listed as affiliated to St John Ambulance (SJA) are employees of St John Ambulance a registered charity in England. SJA is a co-funder of The Circuit. Simon Dunn, Steve Irving, Sue Hampshire, Michael Bradfield, Charles Deakin, Simon Holmes, Stephanie Leckey, Nick Linker, Greg Lloyd, Julian Mark, Lisa McInnes, Simon Walsh, George Woods, Judy O’Sullivan and Gavin D Perkins are current or former members of The Circuit National Advisory Board. GDP holds research grants from the BHF, Resuscitation Council UK and the Laerdal Foundation, is a Trustee for the Resuscitation Council UK and Editor for Resuscitation and Resuscitation Plus journals.’., (© 2024 The Authors.)

An implantable left ventricular assist device (LVAD) is indicated as a bridge to transplantation or recovery in the United Kingdom (UK). The mechanism of action of the LVAD results in a unique state of haemodynamic stability with diminished arterial pulsatility. The clinical assessment of an LVAD recipient can be challenging because non-invasive blood pressure, pulse and oxygen saturation measurements may be hard to obtain. As a result of this unusual situation and complex interplay between the device and the native circulation, resuscitation of LVAD recipients requires bespoke guidelines. Through collaboration with key UK stakeholders, we assessed the current evidence base and developed guidelines for the recognition of clinical deterioration, inadequate circulation and time-critical interventions. Such guidelines, intended for use in transplant centres, are designed to be deployed by those providing immediate care of LVAD patients under conditions of precipitous clinical deterioration. In summary, the Joint British Societies and Transplant Centres LVAD Working Group present the UK guideline on management of emergencies in implantable LVAD recipients for use in advanced heart failure centres. These recommendations have been made with a UK resuscitation focus but are widely applicable to professionals regularly managing patients with implantable LVADs., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Background: We explored the feasibility of a large-scale UK ambulance services trial of optimal defibrillation shock energy for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. The primary objective of this feasibility study was to establish the number of eligible patients and the number recruited. Secondary outcomes were adherence to allocated treatment and data completeness., Methods: We conducted a three-arm parallel group cluster randomised controlled feasibility study in a single ambulance service in southern England. Adult patients in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest treated for a shockable rhythm were included. Zoll X series defibrillators (clusters) were randomised to deliver 120-150-200 J, 150-200-200 J, or 200-200-200 J shock strategies., Results: Between March 2022 and February 2023, we randomised 38 eligible patients (120-150-200 J (n = 12), 150-200-200 J (n = 10), 200-200-200 J (n = 16)) to the study. The recruitment rate per cluster was 0.07 per month. The median patient age was 71 years (IQR 59-81 years); 79% were male. Twenty-eight cardiac arrests (74%) occurred in a private residence, 29 (76%) were witnessed and 32 (84%) patients received bystander CPR. Treatment adherence was 93% and completeness of clinical and electrical outcomes was 86%. At 30 days, 3/36 (8.3%) patients survived; we were unable to collect survival outcomes for two patients. Defibrillation data collection became difficult when defibrillators became separated from their allocated vehicles., Conclusion: We have demonstrated the feasibility of a cluster randomised controlled trial of optimal shock energy for defibrillation in a UK ambulance service. We have identified possible solutions to issues relating to trial design., Competing Interests: The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests: HP is a member of the International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation (ILCOR) Advanced Life Support task force committee. She holds a grant from the National Institute for Health and Social Care Research (NIHR)/Health Education England. GDP is Editor for Resuscitation and Resuscitation Plus and holds grants from the NIHR, British Heart Foundation, Resuscitation Council UK (RCUK) and Laerdal. He is an employee of University of Warwick, University Hospital of Coventry and Warwick, University Hospital Birmingham and West Midlands Ambulance Service and holds Leadership roles with ILCOR, the European Resuscitation Council, and RCUK. CDD, RL, DS, CS, FM, CH, JR, KS, MB, IR: Nil., (© 2024 The Author(s).)

The International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation engages in a continuous review of new, peer-reviewed, published cardiopulmonary resuscitation and first aid science. Draft Consensus on Science With Treatment Recommendations are posted online throughout the year, and this annual summary provides more concise versions of the final Consensus on Science With Treatment Recommendations from all task forces for the year. Topics addressed by systematic reviews this year include resuscitation of cardiac arrest from drowning, extracorporeal cardiopulmonary resuscitation for adults and children, calcium during cardiac arrest, double sequential defibrillation, neuroprognostication after cardiac arrest for adults and children, maintaining normal temperature after preterm birth, heart rate monitoring methods for diagnostics in neonates, detection of exhaled carbon dioxide in neonates, family presence during resuscitation of adults, and a stepwise approach to resuscitation skills training. Members from 6 International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation task forces have assessed, discussed, and debated the quality of the evidence, using Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation criteria, and their statements include consensus treatment recommendations. Insights into the deliberations of the task forces are provided in the Justification and Evidence-to-Decision Framework Highlights sections. In addition, the task forces list priority knowledge gaps for further research. Additional topics are addressed with scoping reviews and evidence updates., (Copyright © 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Standardized reporting of data is crucial for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) research. While the implementation of first responder systems dispatching volunteers to OHCA is encouraged, there is currently no uniform reporting standard for describing these systems. A steering committee established a literature search to identify experts in smartphone alerting systems. These international experts were invited to a conference held in Hinterzarten, Germany, with 40 researchers from 13 countries in attendance. Prior to the conference, participants submitted proposals for parameters to be included in the reporting standard. The conference comprised five workshops covering different aspects of smartphone alerting systems. Proposed parameters were discussed, clarified, and consensus was achieved using the Nominal Group Technique. Participants voted in a modified Delphi approach on including each category as a core or supplementary element in the reporting standard. Results were presented, and a writing group developed definitions for all categories and items, which were sent to participants for revision and final voting using LimeSurvey web-based software. The resulting reporting standard consists of 68 core items and 21 supplementary items grouped into five topics (first responder system, first responder network, technology/algorithm/strategies, reporting data, and automated external defibrillators (AED)). This proposed reporting standard generated by an expert opinion group fills the gap in describing first responder systems. Its adoption in future research will facilitate comparison of systems and research outcomes, enhancing the transfer of scientific findings to clinical practice., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests: ‘MPM is chair of Region of Lifesavers, shareholder of SmartResQ ApS, and received speaker honoraria from Stryker. RG is Board Director of Guidelines, European Resuscitation Council, and chair of the Task Force Education, Implementation and Teams, International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation. TS is member of the editorial board, Resuscitation and Resuscitation Plus, member of the science and education committee BLS of the ERC, and member of the ILCOR social media working group. CDD is member of the editorial board of the journal Resuscitation, treasurer of the UK Resuscitation Council and ALS working group member of ILCOR. AA is a consultant with Boston Scientific, Backbeat, Biosense Webster, Cairdac, Corvia, Daiichi-Sankyo, Medtronic, Merit, Microport CRM, and Philips; received speaker fees from Daiichi-Sankyo, Boston Scientific, Biosense Webster, Medtronic, Microport CRM, and Philips; participates in clinical trials sponsored by Boston Scientific, Medtronic, Microport CRM, and Zoll Medical; and has intellectual properties assigned to Boston Scientific, Biosense Webster, and Microport CRM. TB has research, clinical and educational roles in resuscitation care, including in first responder systems. He is a member of the Pre-Hospital Emergency Care Council (Ireland). EB is working group member in ESCAPE-NET and PARQ COST action. BB is treasurer of the European Resuscitation Council (ERC), Chairman of the German Resuscitation Council (GRC), Member of the Advanced Life Support (ALS) Task Force of the International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation (ILCOR), Member of the Executive Committee of the German Interdisciplinary Association for Intensive Care and Emergency Medicine (DIVI), Founder of the “Deutsche Stiftung Wiederbelebung”, Federal Medical Advisor of the German Red Cross (DRK), Co-Editor of “Resuscitation”, Editor of the Journal “Notfall + Rettungsmedizin”, Co-Editor of the Brazilian Journal of Anesthesiology. He received fees for lectures from the following companies: Forum für medizinische Fortbildung (FomF), Baxalta Deutschland GmbH, ZOLL Medical Deutschland GmbH, C.R. Bard GmbH, GS Elektromedizinische Geräte G. Stemple GmbH, Novartis Pharma GmbH, Philips GmbH Market DACH, Bioscience Valuation BSV GmbH. HJB is member of the executive committee of the German Resuscitation Council and vice chair of Region of Lifesavers. SC is member of the editorial board of the journal Resuscitation, member of the advisory board drone delivery Canada and received speaker honoraria from Zoll Medical. ED is shareholder of EVapp VZW, Belgium. DF is co-founder and operations manager of the Heartrunner Citizen Responder System, Sweden and member of the tech&ops committee of EENA (European Emergency Number Association). FLH is shareholder of FirstAED ApS, Denmark. MJ is a working group leader in the EU-funded network PARQ-COST, focusing on cardiac arrest research. JJ is CEO of the non-profit organisation Region der Lebensretter e.V. TAK is employed at Stan B.V. running the national citizen responder network HartSlagNu in the Netherlands. MK is chief medical director, Vienna Emergency Medical Service, and executive president PULS – Austrian Cardiac Arrest Association. KM is member of the editorial board of the journal Resuscitation. SO is employed at the German Red Cross and is board member of the GRC. DDS provided unpaid scientific consulting to CPRSave, a company developing a novel SAS system, and his department received a small grant from the PulsePoint Foundation to increase SAS participation in Allegheny County, PA, US. AS is vice president of the Italian Resuscitation Council (IRC). JSchwietring is chief medical director, ADAC (air rescue) LRG gGmbH. FS is chair elect, European Resuscitation Council and chair, ILCOR Social Media Working Group. PS is chair of the medical committee, Ontario Para & Summer Games and board member, Peel Paramedic Association. HLT is co-founder of PacingCure. He has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under acronym ESCAPE-NET, registered under grant agreement No 733381, and the COST Action PARQ (grant agreement No CA19137) supported by COST (European Cooperation in Science and Technology). GT is employed at Resuscitec GmbH, shareholder of Resuscitec GmbH, and board member of the GRC and Region der Lebensretter. JGanter is board member of Region of Lifesavers. SV is president of EVapp NGO, and shareholder Prior-IT BV. CM, KCT, RB, MLC, RC, DD, MME, DE, MCTG, JGronewald, MH, LH, TM, KM, WMN, JSowa, RS, JU, WAW have no conflicts of interest.’., (Copyright © 2023 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Aims: The PARAMEDIC-3 trial evaluates the clinical and cost-effectiveness of an intraosseous first strategy, compared with an intravenous first strategy, for drug administration in adults who have sustained an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest., Methods: PARAMEDIC-3 is a pragmatic, allocation concealed, open-label, multi-centre, superiority randomised controlled trial. It will recruit 15,000 patients across English and Welsh ambulance services. Adults who have sustained an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest are individually randomised to an intraosseous access first strategy or intravenous access first strategy in a 1:1 ratio through an opaque, sealed envelope system. The randomised allocation determines the route used for the first two attempts at vascular access. Participants are initially enrolled under a deferred consent model.The primary clinical-effectiveness outcome is survival at 30-days. Secondary outcomes include return of spontaneous circulation, neurological functional outcome, and health-related quality of life. Participants are followed-up to six-months following cardiac arrest. The primary health economic outcome is incremental cost per quality-adjusted life year gained., Conclusion: The PARAMEDIC-3 trial will provide key information on the clinical and cost-effectiveness of drug route in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest.Trial registration: ISRCTN14223494, registered 16/08/2021, prospectively registered., Competing Interests: The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests: GDP is co-chair of the International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation (ILCOR). CD and JPN are emeritus members of the ILCOR Advanced Life Support task force. KC and HP are current members of the ILCOR Advanced Life Support task force. GDP is editor-in-chief and JPN is founding editor of Resuscitation Plus. KC is associate editor of Resuscitation Plus and guest editor for the research methodology special edition., (© 2023 The Authors.)

The International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation engages in a continuous review of new, peer-reviewed, published cardiopulmonary resuscitation and first aid science. Draft Consensus on Science With Treatment Recommendations are posted online throughout the year, and this annual summary provides more concise versions of the final Consensus on Science With Treatment Recommendations from all task forces for the year. Topics addressed by systematic reviews this year include resuscitation of cardiac arrest from drowning, extracorporeal cardiopulmonary resuscitation for adults and children, calcium during cardiac arrest, double sequential defibrillation, neuroprognostication after cardiac arrest for adults and children, maintaining normal temperature after preterm birth, heart rate monitoring methods for diagnostics in neonates, detection of exhaled carbon dioxide in neonates, family presence during resuscitation of adults, and a stepwise approach to resuscitation skills training. Members from 6 International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation task forces have assessed, discussed, and debated the quality of the evidence, using Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation criteria, and their statements include consensus treatment recommendations. Insights into the deliberations of the task forces are provided in the Justification and Evidence-to-Decision Framework Highlights sections. In addition, the task forces list priority knowledge gaps for further research. Additional topics are addressed with scoping reviews and evidence updates.

Introduction: The optimum route for drug administration in cardiac arrest is unclear. Recent data suggest that use of the intraosseous route may be increasing. This study aimed to explore changes over time in use of the intraosseous and intravenous drug routes in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest in England., Methods: We extracted data from the UK Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest Outcomes registry. We included adult out-of-hospital cardiac arrest patients between 2015-2020 who were treated by an English Emergency Medical Service that submitted vascular access route data to the registry. The primary outcome was any use of the intraosseous route during cardiac arrest. We used logistic regression models to describe the association between time (calendar month) and intraosseous use., Results: We identified 75,343 adults in cardiac arrest treated by seven Emergency Medical Service systems between January 2015 and December 2020. The median age was 72 years, 64% were male and 23% presented in a shockable rhythm. Over the study period, the percentage of patients receiving intraosseous access increased from 22.8% in 2015 to 42.5% in 2020. For each study-month, the odds of receiving any intraosseous access increased by 1.019 (95% confidence interval 1.019 to 1.020, p < 0.001). This observed effect was consistent across sensitivity analyses. We observed a corresponding decrease in use of intravenous access., Conclusion: In England, the use of intraosseous access in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest has progressively increased over time. There is an urgent need for randomised controlled trials to evaluate the clinical effectiveness of the different vascular access routes in cardiac arrest., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests: CDD, RF, CJ, JPN, GDP and KC are co-investigators of the PARAMEDIC-3 trial (a randomised controlled trial of the IV versus IO route for vascular access in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest). JPN is Editor in Chief and GDP is an editor of Resuscitation. CDD and KC are editorial board members of Resuscitation., (Copyright © 2023 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Introduction: Cognitive activity and awareness during cardiac arrest (CA) are reported but ill understood. This first of a kind study examined consciousness and its underlying electrocortical biomarkers during cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR)., Methods: In a prospective 25-site in-hospital study, we incorporated a) independent audiovisual testing of awareness, including explicit and implicit learning using a computer and headphones, with b) continuous real-time electroencephalography(EEG) and cerebral oxygenation(rSO 2 ) monitoring into CPR during in-hospital CA (IHCA). Survivors underwent interviews to examine for recall of awareness and cognitive experiences. A complementary cross-sectional community CA study provided added insights regarding survivors' experiences., Results: Of 567 IHCA, 53(9.3%) survived, 28 of these (52.8%) completed interviews, and 11(39.3%) reported CA memories/perceptions suggestive of consciousness. Four categories of experiences emerged: 1) emergence from coma during CPR (CPR-induced consciousness [CPRIC]) 2/28(7.1%), or 2) in the post-resuscitation period 2/28(7.1%), 3) dream-like experiences 3/28(10.7%), 4) transcendent recalled experience of death (RED) 6/28(21.4%). In the cross-sectional arm, 126 community CA survivors' experiences reinforced these categories and identified another: delusions (misattribution of medical events). Low survival limited the ability to examine for implicit learning. Nobody identified the visual image, 1/28(3.5%) identified the auditory stimulus. Despite marked cerebral ischemia (Mean rSO 2  = 43%) normal EEG activity (delta, theta and alpha) consistent with consciousness emerged as long as 35-60 minutes into CPR., Conclusions: Consciousness. awareness and cognitive processes may occur during CA. The emergence of normal EEG may reflect a resumption of a network-level of cognitive activity, and a biomarker of consciousness, lucidity and RED (authentic "near-death" experiences)., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

This is the sixth annual summary of the International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation International Consensus on Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation and Emergency Cardiovascular Care Science With Treatment Recommendations. This summary addresses the most recently published resuscitation evidence reviewed by International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation Task Force science experts. Topics covered by systematic reviews include cardiopulmonary resuscitation during transport; approach to resuscitation after drowning; passive ventilation; minimizing pauses during cardiopulmonary resuscitation; temperature management after cardiac arrest; use of diagnostic point-of-care ultrasound during cardiac arrest; use of vasopressin and corticosteroids during cardiac arrest; coronary angiography after cardiac arrest; public-access defibrillation devices for children; pediatric early warning systems; maintaining normal temperature immediately after birth; suctioning of amniotic fluid at birth; tactile stimulation for resuscitation immediately after birth; use of continuous positive airway pressure for respiratory distress at term birth; respiratory and heart rate monitoring in the delivery room; supraglottic airway use in neonates; prearrest prediction of in-hospital cardiac arrest mortality; basic life support training for likely rescuers of high-risk populations; effect of resuscitation team training; blended learning for life support training; training and recertification for resuscitation instructors; and recovery position for maintenance of breathing and prevention of cardiac arrest. Members from 6 task forces have assessed, discussed, and debated the quality of the evidence using Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation criteria and generated consensus treatment recommendations. Insights into the deliberations of the task forces are provided in the Justification and Evidence-to-Decision Framework Highlights sections, and priority knowledge gaps for future research are listed., (Copyright © 2023 by the American Academy of Pediatrics.)

This is the sixth annual summary of the International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation International Consensus on Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation and Emergency Cardiovascular Care Science With Treatment Recommendations. This summary addresses the most recently published resuscitation evidence reviewed by International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation Task Force science experts. Topics covered by systematic reviews include cardiopulmonary resuscitation during transport; approach to resuscitation after drowning; passive ventilation; minimizing pauses during cardiopulmonary resuscitation; temperature management after cardiac arrest; use of diagnostic point-of-care ultrasound during cardiac arrest; use of vasopressin and corticosteroids during cardiac arrest; coronary angiography after cardiac arrest; public-access defibrillation devices for children; pediatric early warning systems; maintaining normal temperature immediately after birth; suctioning of amniotic fluid at birth; tactile stimulation for resuscitation immediately after birth; use of continuous positive airway pressure for respiratory distress at term birth; respiratory and heart rate monitoring in the delivery room; supraglottic airway use in neonates; prearrest prediction of in-hospital cardiac arrest mortality; basic life support training for likely rescuers of high-risk populations; effect of resuscitation team training; blended learning for life support training; training and recertification for resuscitation instructors; and recovery position for maintenance of breathing and prevention of cardiac arrest. Members from 6 task forces have assessed, discussed, and debated the quality of the evidence using Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation criteria and generated consensus treatment recommendations. Insights into the deliberations of the task forces are provided in the Justification and Evidence-to-Decision Framework Highlights sections, and priority knowledge gaps for future research are listed.

Aims: The Prehospital Optimal Shock Energy for Defibrillation (POSED) study will assess the feasibility of conducting a cluster randomised controlled study of clinical effectiveness in UK ambulance services to identify the optimal shock energy for defibrillation., Methods: POSED is a pragmatic, allocation concealed, open label, cluster randomised, controlled feasibility study. Defibrillators within a single UK ambulance service will be randomised in an equal ratio to deliver one of three shock strategies 120-150-200 J, 150-200-200 J, 200-200-200 J. Consecutive adults (≥18 years) presenting with out of hospital cardiac arrest requiring defibrillation will be eligible. The study plans to enrol 90 patients (30 in each group). Patients (or their relatives for non-survivors) will be informed about trial participation after the initial emergency has resolved. Survivors will be invited to consent to participate in follow-up (i.e., at 30 days or discharge).The primary feasibility outcome is the proportion of eligible patients who receive the randomised study intervention. Secondary feasibility outcomes will include recruitment rate, adherence to allocated treatment and data completeness. Clinical outcomes will include Return of an Organised Rhythm (ROOR) at 2 minutes post-shock, refibrillation rate, Return of Spontaneous Circulation (ROSC) at hospital handover, survival and neurological outcome at 30 days ., Conclusion: The POSED study will assess the feasibility of a large-scale trial and explore opportunities to optimise the trial protocol. Trial registration: ISRCTN16327029., Competing Interests: HP reports research funding from National Institute for Health and Care Research. CDD, RL, FM, AC, MAS, PK, AD, DES report no conflicts of interest. GDP reports research funding from National Institute for Health and Care Research, British Heart Foundation and Resuscitation Council UK. He has volunteer roles with Resuscitation Council UK, European Resuscitation Council and the International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation. He is an editor for the journals Resuscitation and Resuscitation Plus., (© 2022 The Author(s).)

More than 300 000 procedures are performed in cardiac catheter laboratories in the UK each year. The variety and complexity of percutaneous cardiovascular procedures have both increased substantially since the early days of invasive cardiology, when it was largely focused on elective coronary angiography and single chamber (right ventricular) permanent pacemaker implantation. Modern-day invasive cardiology encompasses primary percutaneous coronary intervention, cardiac resynchronisation therapy, complex arrhythmia ablation and structural heart interventions. These procedures all carry the risk of cardiac arrest.We have developed evidence-based guidelines for the management of cardiac arrest in adult patients in the catheter laboratory. The guidelines include recommendations which were developed by collaboration between nine professional and patient societies that are involved in promoting high-quality care for patients with cardiovascular conditions. We present a set of protocols which use the skills of the whole catheter laboratory team and which are aimed at achieving the best possible outcomes for patients who suffer a cardiac arrest in this setting. We identified six roles and developed a treatment algorithm which should be adopted during cardiac arrest in the catheter laboratory. We recommend that all catheter laboratory staff undergo regular training for these emergency situations which they will inevitably face., Competing Interests: Competing interests: JPdB is member of council for the British Heart Rhythm Society, a co-opted member of council for the Resuscitation Council UK, and a practising interventional cardiac electrophysiologist. EG received Abbott Vascular educational funding. SR is a trustee of Heart Valve Voice and Immediate Past President of the British Cardiovascular Society. NO is Immediate Past President for the Association for Cardiothoracic Anaesthesia and Critical Care. CD is on the Executive Committee for the Resuscitation Council UKALS Working Group, ILCOR. JS is lead of a non-profit cardiac catheter laboratory resuscitation educational programme based in Wythenshawe Hospital, Lead Cardiology Clinician, CLEMS course at Wythenshawe Hospital. AA is Vice President for Clinical Standards, British Cardiovascular Society. TK is an advisory board member of the Zoll Medical COOL AMI EU clinical study, received research funds to support cardiac arrest projects from Zoll, and received speaker fees from BD (www.bd.com). JD is co-founder of Cardiac Advanced Resuscitation Education (www.csu-als.org) which is a group that trains clinicians worldwide for emergencies in catheter laboratories, emergencies after cardiac surgery, and thoracic emergency department care. JD is Deputy Editor of www.ctsnet.org, on the SCTS Thoracic Subcommittee, ISMICS Board of Directors 2017, and is STS Workforce Chairman for guideline for resuscitation after cardiac surgery. All other authors declare no competing interests., (© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2022. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.)

Aim: To determine the optimal first-shock energy level for biphasic defibrillation and whether fixed or escalating protocols for subsequent shocks are most effective., Methods: We searched Medline, Embase, Cochrane CENTRAL, CINAHL, the Web of Science and national and international trial registry databases for papers published from database inception to January 2022. We reviewed reference lists of key papers to identify additional references. The population included adults sustaining non traumatic out-of-hospital cardiac arrest subject to attempted defibrillation. Studies of internal or monophasic defibrillation and studies other than randomised controlled trials or prospective cohorts were excluded. Two reviewers assessed study relevance. Data extraction and risk of bias assessment, using the ROBINS-I tool, were conducted by one reviewer and checked by a second reviewer. Data underwent intention-to-treat analysis., Results: We identified no studies evaluating first shock energy. Only one study ( n  = 738) comparing fixed versus escalating energy met eligibility criteria: a prospective cohort analysis of a randomised controlled trial of manual versus mechanical CPR. High fixed (360 J) energy was compared with an escalating (200-200/300-360 J) strategy. Researchers found 27.5% (70/255) of patients in the escalating energy group and 27.61% (132/478) in the fixed high energy group survived to hospital discharge (unadjusted risk ratio 0.99, 95% CI 0.73, 1.23). Results were of very low certainty as the study was at serious risk of bias., Conclusion: This systematic review did not identify an optimal first-shock energy for biphasic defibrillation. We identified no survival advantage at 30 days when comparing 360 J fixed with 200 J escalating strategy., (© 2022 The Author(s).)

An inadvertent consequence of advances in stem cell research, neuroscience, and resuscitation science has been to enable scientific insights regarding what happens to the human brain in relation to death. The scientific exploration of death is in large part possible due to the recognition that brain cells are more resilient to the effects of anoxia than assumed. Hence, brain cells become irreversibly damaged and "die" over hours to days postmortem. Resuscitation science has enabled life to be restored to millions of people after their hearts had stopped. These survivors have described a unique set of recollections in relation to death that appear universal. We review the literature, with a focus on death, the recalled experiences in relation to cardiac arrest, post-intensive care syndrome, and related phenomena that provide insights into potential mechanisms, ethical implications, and methodologic considerations for systematic investigation. We also identify issues and controversies related to the study of consciousness and the recalled experience of cardiac arrest and death in subjects who have been in a coma, with a view to standardize and facilitate future research., (© 2022 New York Academy of Sciences.)

Out-of-hospital cardiac arrest is a global public health issue experienced by ≈3.8 million people annually. Only 8% to 12% survive to hospital discharge. Early defibrillation of shockable rhythms is associated with improved survival, but ensuring timely access to defibrillators has been a significant challenge. To date, the development of public-access defibrillation programs, involving the deployment of automated external defibrillators into the public space, has been the main strategy to address this challenge. Public-access defibrillator programs have been associated with improved outcomes for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest; however, the devices are used in <3% of episodes of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. This scientific statement was commissioned by the International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation with 3 objectives: (1) identify known barriers to public-access defibrillator use and early defibrillation, (2) discuss established and novel strategies to address those barriers, and (3) identify high-priority knowledge gaps for future research to address. The writing group undertook systematic searches of the literature to inform this statement. Innovative strategies were identified that relate to enhanced public outreach, behavior change approaches, optimization of static public-access defibrillator deployment and housing, evolved automated external defibrillator technology and functionality, improved integration of public-access defibrillation with existing emergency dispatch protocols, and exploration of novel automated external defibrillator delivery vectors. We provide evidence- and consensus-based policy suggestions to enhance public-access defibrillation and guidance for future research in this area.