Cardiac Arrest Simulation

[lgsmith]

Has anyone developed a pretest-posttest for the cardiac arrest simulation? I am interested in a tool that has been tested for validity and reliability for inclusion in my dissertation study.
lgsmith

[mariahicks]

I guess my reply is a bit delayed.I was just wondering if your dissertation study is done. Well,I have been reading a lot about cardiac arrest until I have bumped on this thread.Cardiac diseases are common nowadays regardless of age.In hospitals,trained life saver must be always alert and precise in delivering cardiac shock during cardiac resuscitation.Just recently,I have read that Automated defibrillators could be costing lives in hospitals.I was a bit boggled about the article which says that Automated Electronic Defibrillators do not improve survival rates in hospitals.In short, automated electronic defibrillators are useful and effective in saving lives, but they are not necessarily the best option in hospital cardiac wards, where staff and nurses are trained in emergency cardiac care.Well, I guess manual chest compression is way better than AEDS.

[paste]

Heart rate is measured by finding the pulse of the body. This pulse rate can be measured at any point on the body where the artery's pulsation is transmitted to the surface by pressuring it with the index and middle fingers; often it is compressed against an underlying structure like bone. The thumb should not be used for measuring another person's heart rate, as its strong pulse may interfere with correct perception of the target pulse.

[dwalls]

The article published in JAMA can be found here:
http://jama.ama-assn.org/content/304....full.pdf+html

The article is very interesting. It does identify some significant limitations but the research is really good with a large sample size. It seems that the problem with using AEDs in the hospital is the time it takes to identify the shockable rhythm, the time it takes to put the pads on, and smaller amount of current it emits on the first shock - as compared to the standard defibrillators.

One of the identified limitations of the articles was that they didn't determine who was using the AEDs in the hospital - what the level of expertise was. It could be that the person using it was inexperienced.

Overall, it still sounds like AEDs are a good idea - but defibrillators are better if they are readily available.

Thanks for bringing this new research to our attention!