Legal Authority for Infectious Disease Reporting in the United States: Case Study of the 2009 H1N1 Influenza Pandemic.

Tracking of infectious diseases is a public health core function essential to disease prevention and control. Each state mandates reporting of certain infectious diseases to public health authorities. These laws vary by state, and the variation could affect the ability to collect critical information.

CPR quality improvement during in-hospital cardiac arrest using a real-time audiovisual feedback system.

Background: Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) quality during actual cardiac arrest has been found to be deficient in several recent investigations. We hypothesized that real-time feedback during CPR would improve the performance of chest compressions and ventilations during in-hospital cardiac arrest.

Methods: An investigational monitor/defibrillator with CPR-sensing and feedback capabilities was used during in-hospital cardiac arrests from December 2004 to December 2005.

Characteristics of volunteers responding to emergencies in the Public Access Defibrillation Trial.

Objectives: To evaluate the characteristics of volunteers responding to emergencies in the North American Public Access Defibrillation (PAD) Trial.

Methods: The PAD Trial was a prospective evaluation of cardiac arrest survival in community facilities randomized to cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) or to CPR with automated external defibrillators (AEDs). The PAD volunteers' characteristics were analyzed using Poisson regression clustered on the facility and offset by the number of emergency episodes to which volunteers were exposed.

Effects of compression depth and pre-shock pauses predict defibrillation failure during cardiac arrest.

Background: Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and electrical defibrillation are the primary treatment options for ventricular fibrillation (VF). While recent studies have shown that providing CPR prior to defibrillation may improve outcomes, the effects of CPR quality remain unclear. Specifically, the clinical effects of compression depth and pauses in chest compression prior to defibrillation (pre-shock pauses) are unknown.

Quality of cardiopulmonary resuscitation during in-hospital cardiac arrest.

Context: The survival benefit of well-performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is well-documented, but little objective data exist regarding actual CPR quality during cardiac arrest. Recent studies have challenged the notion that CPR is uniformly performed according to established international guidelines.

Objectives: To measure multiple parameters of in-hospital CPR quality and to determine compliance with published American Heart Association and international guidelines.

Human factors impact successful lay person automated external defibrillator use during simulated cardiac arrest.

Objective: With the dissemination of automated external defibrillators in the community, there is increasing lay person use, along with less formal automated external defibrillator training and retraining. Therefore, the "ease of use" factors related to the human-device interface may be vital for successful use. We sought to determine whether human factor differences would result in differences in parameters of successful or safe use by lay persons in the setting of simulated cardiac arrest.