Urs Pietsch1, Volker Lischke2, Christine Pietsch3. 1. Kantonsspital St Gallen Klinik für Anästhesiologie, Raron, Switzerland. 2. Hochtaunus-Kliniken gGmbH, Krankenhaus Bad Homburg, Abteilung für Anästhesie und operative Intensivmedizin, Raron, Switzerland. 3. Schwarzwald-Baar-Klinikum, Villingen-Schwennigen Klinik für Neurochirurgie, Villingen-Schwenningen, Germany. Electronic address: pietsch@gmx.de.
Abstract
INTRODUCTION: Pre-hospital care of cardiac arrest patients in the mountain environment is one of the most challenging problems for helicopter medical emergency services (HEMS) teams. To provide high-quality chest compression with minimal hand s-off-time is very demanding in the alpine area. METHODS: We used and evaluated mechanical chest compression devices (Lucas and AutoPulse) and investigated if these are good and useful tools in the alpine HEMS. Over a period of 12 months we performed 7 CPRs in remote alpine terrain. CONCLUSION: On the strength of our past experience, CPR under special circumstances like deep hypothermia, in which a prolonged CPR is essential, the use of the Lucas and/or AutoPulse was an easy and sufficient tool even in difficult alpine terrain which requires special rescue missions like winch or MERS evacuation.
INTRODUCTION: Pre-hospital care of cardiac arrestpatients in the mountain environment is one of the most challenging problems for helicopter medical emergency services (HEMS) teams. To provide high-quality chest compression with minimal hand s-off-time is very demanding in the alpine area. METHODS: We used and evaluated mechanical chest compression devices (Lucas and AutoPulse) and investigated if these are good and useful tools in the alpine HEMS. Over a period of 12 months we performed 7 CPRs in remote alpine terrain. CONCLUSION: On the strength of our past experience, CPR under special circumstances like deep hypothermia, in which a prolonged CPR is essential, the use of the Lucas and/or AutoPulse was an easy and sufficient tool even in difficult alpine terrain which requires special rescue missions like winch or MERS evacuation.
Authors: Urs Pietsch; David Reiser; Volker Wenzel; Jürgen Knapp; Mario Tissi; Lorenz Theiler; Simon Rauch; Lorenz Meuli; Roland Albrecht Journal: Scand J Trauma Resusc Emerg Med Date: 2020-07-25 Impact factor: 2.953