Noninvasive ventilation use in French out-of-hospital settings: a preliminary national survey.

Objective: The objective of our study was to describe noninvasive ventilation (NIV) practices (pressure support ventilation and continuous positive airway pressure) in French out-of-hospital mobile intensive care units (SMUR) and their compliance with national consensus guidelines.

Method: Online inquiry into practices of NIV among managers of French SMUR. Analyzed data include types of NIV devices and use of NIV.

Identification of potential organ donors of advanced age in EDs.

Objective: In France and in Belgium, as in many countries, there is a shortage of organs for transplantation, which has led to strategies to recruit older potential donors who may die of stroke.

Methods: We conducted a post hoc analysis to identify potential organ donors with cardiac function among a population of dying patients in emergency departments. This population had been selected for a separate multicenter prospective observational study.

Death in emergency departments: a multicenter cross-sectional survey with analysis of withholding and withdrawing life support.

Purpose: To describe the characteristics of patients who die in emergency departments and the decisions to withhold or withdraw life support.

Methods: We undertook a 4-month prospective survey in 174 emergency departments in France and Belgium to describe patients who died and the decisions to limit life-support therapies.

Results: Of 2,512 patients enrolled, 92 (3.