HTA of organising cardiac arrest courses

The courses are organised differently at the hospital, but there is a lack of knowledge about whether or not the cardiac arrest courses are crucial for the quality of the revival on common wards.

AIM

The overall purpose of this study was to uncover the most efficient way to organise cardiac arrest courses in the hospitals of the Region of Southern Denmark. The HTA project consisted not only of a literature review but also data collection from cardiac arrest simulators. Furthermore, there was a data collection concerning organisation and economy for the organisation of cardiac arrest treatment in the Region of Southern Denmark.

The staff from two surgical and two medical divisions from each of the four hospitals from the Region of Southern Denmark participated in the cardiac arrest simulations.

RESULTS

On the basis of the HTA, a couple of recommendations were stated. There was no scientific justification for changing the content of the current courses, but the quality of the revival could be better. It was suggested that there should be more focus on this during the courses. At the same time, it was found out that communication in urgent situations could be improved and therefore there should also be a focus on this during the courses. In more than one simulation, it was observed that the use of an AED (automatic external defibrillator) affected the revival process negatively. Therefore, further training should be implemented, in case of the use of an AED in the ward.