Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest Bystander Defibrillator Search Time and Experience With and Without Directional Assistance: A Randomized Simulation Trial in a Community Setting

Abstract

Introduction: Probability of survival after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) doubles when a bystander initiates cardiopulmonary resuscitation and uses an automated external defibrillator (AED) rapidly. National, state, and community efforts have increased placement of AEDs in public spaces; however, bystander AED use remains less than 2% in the United States. Little is known about the effect of giving bystanders directional assistance to the closest public access AED.

Methods:  They conducted 35 OHCA simulations using a life-sized manikin with participants aged 18 through 65 years who searched for public access AEDs in 5 zones on a university campus. Zones varied by challenges to pedestrian AED acquisition and number of fixed AEDs. Participants completed 2 searches-first unassisted and then with verbal direction to the closest AED-and we compared AED delivery times. We conducted pretest and posttest surveys.

Results: In all 5 zones, the median time from simulated OHCA onset to AED delivery was lower when the bystander received directional assistance. Time savings (minutes: seconds) varied by zone, ranging from a median of 0:53 (P = 0.14) to 3:42 (P = 0.02). Only 3 participants immediately located the closest AED without directional assistance; more than half reported difficulty locating an AED.

Conclusions: These findings may inform strategies to ensure that AEDs are consistently marked and placed in visible, accessible locations. Continued emphasis on developing strategies to improve lay bystanders’ ability to locate and use AEDs may improve AED retrieval times and OHCA outcomes.

Full article;

Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest Bystander Defibrillator Search Time and Experience With and Without Directional Assistance: A Randomized Simulation Trial in a Community Setting – PubMed

Sensor Technology usage in Orthopedic Trauma

Medicine in general is quickly transitioning to a digital presence. Orthopaedic surgery is also being impacted by the tenets of digital health but there are also direct efforts with trauma surgery. Sensors are the pen and paper of the next wave of gathering data. Orthopaedic trauma can and will be part of this new wave of medicine. Early sensor products that are now coming to market, or are in early development, will directly change the way we think about surgical diagnosis and outcomes. This article reviews current sensor technology that looks to impact trauma care.

The study concluded that need a lot of information from internal sensors to change orthopedic health care. Wireless battery-free devices attached to bone during orthopedic surgeries can potentially directly record physiological and biophysical signals critical for the assessment of musculoskeletal health.

 

Read full article here;

Sensor technology usage in orthopedic trauma – PubMed (nih.gov)