Platelet and red cell responses to three North American pit vipers.

We investigated the hemotoxic effects of three North American pit vipers in healthy human donor blood. Using experiments focusing on platelet and red blood cell activity, we found differential effects of these venoms on these cellular components. Platelet aggregation was most induced by C.

Performance of the medical priority dispatch system in correctly classifying out-of-hospital cardiac arrests as appropriate for resuscitation.

Background: Emergency dispatch centres receive emergency calls and assign resources. Out-of-hospital cardiac arrests (OHCA) can be classified as appropriate (requiring emergent response) or inappropriate (requiring non-emergent response) for resuscitation. We sought to determine system accuracy in emergency medical services (EMS) OHCA response allocation.

A pragmatic parallel group implementation study of a prehospital-activated ECPR protocol for refractory out-of-hospital cardiac arrest.

Objectives: Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation within CPR (ECPR) may improve survival among patients with refractory out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA). We evaluated outcomes after incorporating ECPR into a conventional resuscitation system.

Methods: We introduced a prehospital-activated ECPR protocol for select refractory OHCAs into one of four metropolitan regions in British Columbia.