A randomised, double-blind, multi-centre trial comparing vasopressin and adrenaline in patients with cardiac arrest presenting to or in the Emergency Department.

Objective: To compare vasopressin and adrenaline in the treatment of patients with cardiac arrest presenting to or in the Emergency Department (ED).

Design: A randomised, double-blind, multi-centre, parallel-design clinical trial in four adult hospitals.

Method: Eligible cardiac arrest patients (confirmed by the absence of pulse, unresponsiveness and apnea) aged >16 (aged>21 for one hospital) were randomly assigned to intravenous adrenaline (1mg) or vasopressin (40 IU) at ED.