End-tidal Carbon Dioxide Trajectory-based Prognostication of Out-of-hospital Cardiac Arrest.

Background: During cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), end-tidal carbon dioxide (EtCO) is primarily determined by pulmonary blood flow, thereby reflecting the blood flow generated by CPR. We aimed to develop an EtCO trajectory-based prediction model for prognostication at specific time points during CPR in patients with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA).

Methods: We screened patients receiving CPR between 2015-2021 from a prospectively collected database of a tertiary-care medical center.

Development of a prediction model for emergency medical service witnessed traumatic out-of-hospital cardiac arrest: A multicenter cohort study.

Background/purpose: To develop a prediction model for emergency medical technicians (EMTs) to identify trauma patients at high risk of deterioration to emergency medical service (EMS)-witnessed traumatic cardiac arrest (TCA) on the scene or en route.

Methods: We developed a prediction model using the classical cross-validation method from the Pan-Asia Trauma Outcomes Study (PATOS) database from 1 January 2015 to 31 December 2020. Eligible patients aged ≥18 years were transported to the hospital by the EMS.

Original Article: The impacts of DRG payment system on financial balance of multiple trauma: Experiences of three trauma centers in Taiwan.

Introduction: There are concerns regarding the adequacy of applying the diagnosis-related groups (DRG) payment system for multiple traumas (i.e., major diagnostic category 24, MDC-24) patients in Taiwan.

The predictive performance of current termination-of-resuscitation rules in patients following out-of-hospital cardiac arrest in Asian countries: A cross-sectional multicentre study.

Background: Termination-of-resuscitation rules (TORRs) in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) patients have been applied in western countries; in Asia, two TORRs were developed and have not been externally validated widely. We aimed to externally validate the TORRs using the registry of Pan-Asian Resuscitation Outcomes Study (PAROS).

Methods: PAROS enrolled 66,780 OHCA patients in seven Asian countries from 1 January 2009 to 31 December 2012.

Correction: Optimal paramedic numbers in resuscitation of patients with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest: A randomized controlled study in a simulation setting.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.

Barriers to bystanders defibrillation: A national survey on public awareness and willingness of bystanders defibrillation.

Background: After years of setting up public automated external defibrillators (AEDs), the rate of bystander AED use remains low all over the world. This study aimed to assess the public awareness and willingness of bystanders to use AEDs and to investigate the awareness on the Good Samaritan Law (GSL) and the factors associated with the low rate of bystander AED use.

Methods: Using stratified random sampling, national telephone interviews were conducted using an author-designed structured questionnaire.

A prediction model for patients with emergency medical service witnessed out-of-hospital cardiac arrest.

Background/purpose: The study aim was to develop a model for predicting patients with emergency medical service (EMS) witnessed out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA).

Methods: We used fire-based EMS data from Taipei city to develop the prediction model. Patients included in this study were those who were initially alive, non-traumatic, and age ≧20 years.

Prediction of ROSC After Cardiac Arrest Using Machine Learning.

Out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) is an important public health problem, with very low survival rate. In treating OHCA patients, the return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC) represents the success of early resuscitation efforts. In this study, we developed a machine learning model to predict ROSC and compared it with the ROSC after cardiac arrest (RACA) score.

Public knowledge, attitudes and willingness regarding bystander cardiopulmonary resuscitation: A nationwide survey in Taiwan.

Background: A low bystander cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) rate is one of the factors associated with low cardiac arrest survival. This study aimed to assess knowledge, attitudes, and willingness towards performing CPR and the barriers for implementation of bystander-initiated CPR.

Methods: Telephone interviews were conducted using an author-designed and validated structured questionnaire in Taiwan.

The effect and associated factors of dispatcher recognition of stroke: A retrospective observational study.

Background/purpose: Details of the communication between the caller and dispatcher have not been reported previously in Taiwan. This study aimed to: (1) understand the details of the communication between the caller and dispatcher among the calls for stroke patients, (2) identify factors associated with stroke recognition by dispatchers, and (3) evaluate the association between stroke recognition by dispatchers and stroke management.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective observational study involving patients with stroke or transient ischemic stroke transported by the emergency medical service, and arriving at 9 hospitals in Taipei within 3 h of symptom onset from January 1, 2013 to February 28, 2014.

Cardiac arrest and cardiopulmonary resuscitation outcome reports: update of the Utstein Resuscitation Registry Templates for Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest: a statement for healthcare professionals from a task force of the International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation (American Heart Association, European Resuscitation Council, Australian and New Zealand Council on Resuscitation, Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada, InterAmerican Heart Foundation, Resuscitation Council of Southern Africa, Resuscitation Council of Asia); and the American Heart Association Emergency Cardiovascular Care Committee and the Council on Cardiopulmonary, Critical Care, Perioperative and Resuscitation.

Utstein-style guidelines contribute to improved public health internationally by providing a structured framework with which to compare emergency medical services systems. Advances in resuscitation science, new insights into important predictors of outcome from out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, and lessons learned from methodological research prompted this review and update of the 2004 Utstein guidelines. Representatives of the International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation developed an updated Utstein reporting framework iteratively by meeting face to face, by teleconference, and by Web survey during 2012 through 2014.

Global health and emergency care: a resuscitation research agenda--part 1.

At the 2013 Academic Emergency Medicine global health consensus conference, a breakout session on a resuscitation research agenda was held. Two articles focusing on cardiac arrest and trauma resuscitation are the result of that discussion. This article describes the burden of disease and outcomes, issues in resuscitation research, and global trends in resuscitation research funding priorities.

Direct endotracheal intubation using a novel detachable optic probe (Sunscope) by emergency medical technicians with various training backgrounds.

Objective: Effective airway management requires both proper technique and the appropriate devices. With the widespread implementation of advanced life-support techniques in emergency medical services (EMS), orotracheal intubation is now performed not only by professional practitioners but, in many occasions, nonprofessionals. With extensively diversified skill equipped, we tested whether the Sunscope, a patented tracheal intubation device with a digital display, is able to facilitate tracheal intubation by naïve EMS personnel with various training backgrounds.

Application of tele-ultrasound in emergency medical services.

In emergency medical services, portable ultrasound scanners have the potential to become new-age stethoscopes for emergency physicians. For trauma cases in particular, portable ultrasound scanners can scan the chest and abdomen of emergency patients both rapidly and conveniently. This study describes the development of tele-ultrasound for pre-diagnosis in a medical emergency setting as a part of the updated Mobile Hospital Emergency Medical System (MHEMS).

Ultrasound may decrease the emergency surgery rate of incarcerated inguinal hernia.

Objective: Manual reduction is the standard procedure for incarcerated inguinal hernia reduction. The role of ultrasound in incarcerated inguinal hernia reduction has not been defined. The aim of this study was to determine whether ultrasound can improve the ability to reduce incarcerated inguinal hernia safely when manual reduction fails and thereby decrease the emergency surgery rate.

Ultrasonographic screening of clinically-suspected necrotizing fasciitis.

Objective: To determine the accuracy of ultrasonography for the diagnosis of necrotizing fasciitis.

Methods: This study was a prospective observational review of patients with clinically-suspected necrotizing fasciitis presenting to the emergency department of an urban (Taipei) medical center between October 1996 and May 1998. All patients underwent ultrasonographic examination, with the ultrasonographic diagnosis of necrotizing fasciitis based on the criterion of a diffuse thickening of the subcutaneous tissue accompanied by a layer of fluid accumulation more than 4 millimeters in depth along the deep fascial layer, when compared with the contralateral position on the corresponding normal limb.