Marine Riou1, Stephen Ball2, Teresa A Williams3, Austin Whiteside4, Peter Cameron5, Daniel M Fatovich6, Gavin D Perkins7, Karen Smith8, Janet Bray9, Madoka Inoue2, Kay L O'Halloran10, Paul Bailey11, Deon Brink11, Judith Finn12. 1. Prehospital, Resuscitation and Emergency Care Research Unit (PRECRU), School of Nursing, Midwifery and Paramedicine, Curtin University, Bentley, WA 6102, Australia. Electronic address: marine.riou@curtin.edu.au. 2. Prehospital, Resuscitation and Emergency Care Research Unit (PRECRU), School of Nursing, Midwifery and Paramedicine, Curtin University, Bentley, WA 6102, Australia. 3. Prehospital, Resuscitation and Emergency Care Research Unit (PRECRU), School of Nursing, Midwifery and Paramedicine, Curtin University, Bentley, WA 6102, Australia; St John Ambulance (WA), Belmont, WA 6104, Australia; Emergency Medicine, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA 6009, Australia; Emergency Medicine, Royal Perth Hospital, Perth, WA 6001, Australia. 4. St John Ambulance (WA), Belmont, WA 6104, Australia. 5. Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Victoria 3004, Australia. 6. Prehospital, Resuscitation and Emergency Care Research Unit (PRECRU), School of Nursing, Midwifery and Paramedicine, Curtin University, Bentley, WA 6102, Australia; Emergency Medicine, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA 6009, Australia; Emergency Medicine, Royal Perth Hospital, Perth, WA 6001, Australia; Centre for Clinical Research in Emergency Medicine, Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research, Royal Perth Hospital, WA 6847, Australia. 7. Warwick Clinical Trials Unit and Heart of England NHS Foundation Trust, University of Warwick, Coventry, CV4 7AL, United Kingdom. 8. Emergency Medicine, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA 6009, Australia; Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Victoria 3004, Australia; Department of Community Emergency Health and Paramedic Practice, Monash University, Victoria 3004, Australia; Ambulance Victoria, Blackburn North, Victoria 3130, Australia. 9. Prehospital, Resuscitation and Emergency Care Research Unit (PRECRU), School of Nursing, Midwifery and Paramedicine, Curtin University, Bentley, WA 6102, Australia; Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Victoria 3004, Australia. 10. School of Education, Curtin University, Bentley, WA 6102, Australia. 11. Prehospital, Resuscitation and Emergency Care Research Unit (PRECRU), School of Nursing, Midwifery and Paramedicine, Curtin University, Bentley, WA 6102, Australia; St John Ambulance (WA), Belmont, WA 6104, Australia. 12. Prehospital, Resuscitation and Emergency Care Research Unit (PRECRU), School of Nursing, Midwifery and Paramedicine, Curtin University, Bentley, WA 6102, Australia; St John Ambulance (WA), Belmont, WA 6104, Australia; Emergency Medicine, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA 6009, Australia; Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Victoria 3004, Australia.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: In emergency ambulance calls, agonal breathing remains a barrier to the recognition of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA), initiation of cardiopulmonary resuscitation, and rapid dispatch. We aimed to explore whether the language used by callers to describe breathing had an impact on call-taker recognition of agonal breathing and hence cardiac arrest. METHODS: We analysed 176 calls of paramedic-confirmed OHCA, stratified by recognition of OHCA (89 cases recognised, 87 cases not recognised). We investigated the linguistic features of callers' response to the question "is s/he breathing?" and examined the impact on subsequent coding by call-takers. RESULTS: Among all cases (recognised and non-recognised), 64% (113/176) of callers said that the patients were breathing (yes-answers). We identified two categories of yes-answers: 56% (63/113) were plain answers, confirming that the patient was breathing ("he's breathing"); and 44% (50/113) were qualified answers, containing additional information ("yes but gasping"). Qualified yes-answers were suggestive of agonal breathing. Yet these answers were often not pursued and most (32/50) of these calls were not recognised as OHCA at dispatch. CONCLUSION: There is potential for improved recognition of agonal breathing if call-takers are trained to be alert to any qualification following a confirmation that the patient is breathing.
BACKGROUND: In emergency ambulance calls, agonal breathing remains a barrier to the recognition of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA), initiation of cardiopulmonary resuscitation, and rapid dispatch. We aimed to explore whether the language used by callers to describe breathing had an impact on call-taker recognition of agonal breathing and hence cardiac arrest. METHODS: We analysed 176 calls of paramedic-confirmed OHCA, stratified by recognition of OHCA (89 cases recognised, 87 cases not recognised). We investigated the linguistic features of callers' response to the question "is s/he breathing?" and examined the impact on subsequent coding by call-takers. RESULTS: Among all cases (recognised and non-recognised), 64% (113/176) of callers said that the patients were breathing (yes-answers). We identified two categories of yes-answers: 56% (63/113) were plain answers, confirming that the patient was breathing ("he's breathing"); and 44% (50/113) were qualified answers, containing additional information ("yes but gasping"). Qualified yes-answers were suggestive of agonal breathing. Yet these answers were often not pursued and most (32/50) of these calls were not recognised as OHCA at dispatch. CONCLUSION: There is potential for improved recognition of agonal breathing if call-takers are trained to be alert to any qualification following a confirmation that the patient is breathing.
Authors: Philip Weng Kee Leong; Benjamin Sieu-Hon Leong; Shalini Arulanandam; Marie Xin Ru Ng; Yih Yng Ng; Marcus Eng Hock Ong; Desmond Ren Hao Mao Journal: Singapore Med J Date: 2020-05-27 Impact factor: 1.858
Authors: Sandra C Thompson; Lee Nedkoff; Judith Katzenellenbogen; Mohammad Akhtar Hussain; Frank Sanfilippo Journal: Int J Environ Res Public Health Date: 2019-12-15 Impact factor: 3.390
Authors: Theresa M Olasveengen; Federico Semeraro; Giuseppe Ristagno; Maaret Castren; Anthony Handley; Artem Kuzovlev; Koenraad G Monsieurs; Violetta Raffay; Michael Smyth; Jasmeet Soar; Hildigunnur Svavarsdóttir; Gavin D Perkins Journal: Notf Rett Med Date: 2021-06-02 Impact factor: 0.826