P059: Paramedic compliance with a novel defibrillation strategy in a large, urban EMS system in the United States

Abstract

Introduction: Emergency Medical Services (EMS) care confers distinct impact upon survivability from sudden cardiac arrest. Many studies have been conducted regarding EMS interventions for cardiac arrest, though fewer studies have been published detailing specific analysis of paramedic compliance with standing orders, particularly those involving a novel energy strategy in defibrillation. Methods: Adults in sudden cardiac arrest with resuscitation initiated, including at least one defibrillation, between July 1, 2016 and December 1, 2016 were enrolled. Education on a novel defibrillation strategy, involving weight-based joule settings and double sequential external defibrillation (DSED) was delivered in classroom and internet-accessed settings. Paramedics then performed hands-on practice in DSED. All resuscitations were reviewed from electronic medical records (EMRs) completed by treating paramedics, alongside telemetry and defibrillation events recorded, transmitted, and analyzed in proprietary software (CODE-STAT™, Physio-Control Corporation, Redmond, WA). All ECGs and defibrillation events were reviewed by an emergency physician to determine energy settings used by paramedics for determining the accuracy of compliance with protocol-based standing orders. Results: During the 5 month study period, the paramedics involved treated 133 adults in sudden cardiac arrest involving perceived ventricular fibrillation that was treated with at least one defibrillation. 76/90 (84.4%) with estimated weight <100 kg were treated with correct joule settings, though only 7/43 (16.3%) with estimated weight ≥100kg received all defibrillations at 360J as protocol-specified. 26/44 (59.1%) in refractory ventricular fibrillation, defined as requiring a fourth defibrillation, received DSED as protocol-specified. Conclusion: Paramedics, when specifically trained on a novel defibrillation strategy, involving both weight-based joule settings and use of DSED for refractory ventricular fibrillation, are inconsistently able to quickly and successfully incorporate that strategy in EMS resuscitation care. Further educational endeavours are warranted to achieve higher defibrillation strategy protocol compliance.