Time to antibiotic administration: Sepsis alerts called in emergency department versus in the field via emergency medical services

IntroductionThe Severe Sepsis and Septic Shock Early Management Bundle (SEP-1) identifies patients with “severe sepsis” and mandates antibiotics within a specific time window. Rapid time to administration of antibiotics may improve patient outcomes. The goal of this investigation was to compare time to antibiotic administration when sepsis alerts are called in the emergency department (ED) with those called in the field by emergency medical services (EMS).MethodsThis was a multi-center, retrospective review of patients designated as sepsis alerts in ED or via EMS in the field, presenting to four community emergency departments over a six-month period.Results507 patients were included, 419 in the ED alert group and 88 in the field alert group. Mean time to antibiotic administration was significantly faster in the field alert group when compared to the ED alert group (48.5 min vs 64.5 min, p < 0.001). Patients were more likely to receive antibiotics within 60 min of ED arrival in the field alert group (59.1% vs 44%, p = 0.01). Secondary outcomes including mortality, hospital length of stay, intensive care unit length of stay, sepsis diagnosis on admission, Clostridioides difficile infection rates, fluid bolus utilization, anti-MRSA antibiotic utilization rates, and anti-Pseudomonal antibiotic utilization rates were not found to be significantly different.ConclusionsSepsis alerts called in the field via EMS may decrease time to antibiotics and increase the likelihood of antibiotic administration occurring within 60 min of arrival when compared to those called in the ED.     

Patient safety in pre-hospital emergency tracheal intubation: a comprehensive meta-analysis of the intubation success rates of EMS providers

Introduction  

Pre-hospital airway management is a controversial subject, but there is general agreement that a small number of seriously ill or injured patients require urgent emergency tracheal intubation (ETI) and ventilation. Many European emergency medical services (EMS) systems provide physicians to care for these patients while other systems rely on paramedics (or, rarely, nurses). The ETI success rate is an important measure of provider and EMS system success and a marker of patient safety.     

Sepsis in European intensive care units: results of the SOAP study

OBJECTIVE: To better define the incidence of sepsis and the characteristics of critically ill patients in European intensive care units. DESIGN: Cohort, multiple-center, observational study. SETTING: One hundred and ninety-eight intensive care units in 24 European countries. PATIENTS: All new adult admissions to a participating intensive care unit between May 1 and 15, 2002. INTERVENTIONS: None. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Demographic data, comorbid diseases, and clinical and laboratory data were collected prospectively. Patients were followed up until death, until hospital discharge, or for 60 days. Of 3,147 adult patients, with a median age of 64 yrs, 1,177 (37.4%) had sepsis; 777 (24.7%) of these patients had sepsis on admission. In patients with sepsis, the lung was the most common site of infection (68%), followed by the abdomen (22%). Cultures were positive in 60% of the patients with sepsis. The most common organisms were Staphylococcus aureus (30%, including 14% methicillin-resistant), Pseudomonas species (14%), and Escherichia coli (13%). Pseudomonas species was the only microorganism independently associated with increased mortality rates. Patients with sepsis had more severe organ dysfunction, longer intensive care unit and hospital lengths of stay, and higher mortality rate than patients without sepsis. In patients with sepsis, age, positive fluid balance, septic shock, cancer, and medical admission were the important prognostic variables for intensive care unit mortality. There was considerable variation between countries, with a strong correlation between the frequency of sepsis and the intensive care unit mortality rates in each of these countries. CONCLUSIONS: This large pan-European study documents the high frequency of sepsis in critically ill patients and shows a close relationship between the proportion of patients with sepsis and the intensive care unit mortality in the various countries. In addition to age, a positive fluid balance was among the strongest prognostic factors for death. Patients with intensive care unit acquired sepsis have a worse outcome despite similar severity scores on intensive care unit admission.     

Evaluation of an end-tidal portable ETCO2 colorimetric breath indicator (COLIBRI)

Evaluation of tube position is important after in-hospital and prehospital emergency intubation. Colorimetric breath indicators are devices for immediate control of tube positioning by showing a color change according to end-tidal CO2 (ETCO2) concentrations. We hypothesized that colorimetric breath indicators can yield reliable results for confirmation of tube position. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of a new colorimetric breath indicator (Colibri, ICOR AB, Bromma, Sweden) in 147 patients during general anesthesia, in critically ill patients, during transport to in-hospital interventions, and in a study design after insertion of a second tube into the esophagus in long-term ventilated patients. The Colibri was attached between the respective airway and ventilatory tubing. Seventy-three patients were investigated during general anesthesia, 39 patients were observed during long-term ventilation with an average duration of 33 hours, in 15 patients during transport to an intervention for up to 4 hours, and in 20 long-term ventilated patients at the medical intensive-care unit after insertion of a second tube intentionally into the esophagus with the help of a laryngoscope. The Colibri worked well in all groups investigated and showed no false results in the group with tubes inserted into the trachea and esophagus. Data suggest that the Colibri might serve as a valuable tool for evaluating and controlling tube position. This device is independent of power supply or electronic equipment, portable, small, and immediately ready for use.     

Low-dose steroids in adult septic shock: results of the Surviving Sepsis Campaign

Objective

The Surviving Sepsis Campaign (SSC) developed guidelines and treatment bundles for the administration of steroids in adult septic shock. However, it is not clear how this has affected clinical practice or patient outcome.

Design and setting

The SSC has developed an extensive database to assess the overall effect of its guidelines on clinical practice and patient outcome. This analysis focuses on one particular element of the SSC’s management bundle, namely, the administration of low-dose steroids in adult septic shock. This analysis was conducted on data submitted from January 2005 through March 2010 including 27,836 subjects at 218 sites.

Main results

A total of 17,847 (of the total 27,836) patients in the database required vasopressor therapy despite fluid resuscitation and therefore met the eligibility criteria for receiving low-dose steroids. A total of 8,992 patients (50.4?%) received low-dose steroids for their septic shock. Patients in Europe (59.4?%) and South America (51.9?%) were more likely to be prescribed low-dose steroids compared to their counterparts in North America (46.2?%, p?<?0.001). The adjusted hospital mortality was significantly higher (OR 1.18, 95?% CI 1.09–1.23, p?<?0.001) in patients who received low-dose steroids compared to those who did not. There was still an association with increased adjusted hospital mortality with low-dose steroids even if they were prescribed within 8?h (OR 1.23, 95?% CI 1.13–1.34, p?<?0.001).

Conclusions

Steroids were commonly administered in the treatment of septic shock in this subset analysis of the Surviving Sepsis Campaign database. However, this was associated with an increase in adjusted hospital mortality.     

加强院前急救护理管理对提高院前救护效果的影响

目的探讨加强院前急救护理管理对提高院前救护的效果。方法加强院前急救护理管理的内容包括加强护士院前急救专业培训,保证院前急救药品、设备的齐全及完好,规范现场急救和运送途中的急救制度等,比较加强院前急救护理管理前后院前救护效果。结果加强院前急救护理管理后院前急救呼叫出车反应时间和途中时间均较前缩短,急救成功率从90.2%上升到96.3%,加强管理前后比较,经统计学分析,均P0.05,差异具有统计学意义。结论加强院前急救护理管理能缩短院前急救时间,提高急救成功率。     

患者与院前急救服务伦理冲突的调查分析

目的 了解院前患者与救护人员判断及急救网络管理制度的冲突情况.方法 采用<院前急救中遇到伦理学问题调查表>,对全市80家急救网络医院从事院前急救工作的80名医生和248名护士进行问卷调查,调查患者与院前急救服务伦理冲突的情况.结果 328份问卷中,认为需要救护的患者中完全拒绝的患者占(8.046±6.990)%,部分拒绝的占(14.544±10.558)%;需要救护车转运的患者中拒绝的占(14.451±14.747)%;拒绝救护和转运的原因中付费问题占(23.52±~19.79)%.认为自己不需要占(22.22±20.84)%,自己想死占(5.77±4.47)%,难以判断占(19.44±18.65)%,其他原因占(30.08±25.78)%;(20.31±16.66)%的患者拒绝救护人员判断其处于某种状态;得到救护车服务的患者中(29.66±24.02)%的患者认为无出车必要;(22.11+19.52)%患者的要求与院前急救服务管理的规定有冲突.结论 院前患者与院前急救服务伦理存在一定程度上的冲突.     

患者与院前急救服务伦理冲突的调查分析

目的 了解院前患者与救护人员判断及急救网络管理制度的冲突情况.方法 采用〈院前急救中遇到伦理学问题调查表〉,对全市80家急救网络医院从事院前急救工作的80名医生和248名护士进行问卷调查,调查患者与院前急救服务伦理冲突的情况.结果 328份问卷中,认为需要救护的患者中完全拒绝的患者占（8.046±6.990）%,部分拒绝的占（14.544±10.558）%;需要救护车转运的患者中拒绝的占（14.451±14.747）%;拒绝救护和转运的原因中付费问题占（23.52±19.79）%.认为自己不需要占（22.22±20.84）%,自己想死占（5.77±4.47）%,难以判断占（19.44±18.65）%,其他原因占（30.08±25.78）%;（20.31±16.66）%的患者拒绝救护人员判断其处于某种状态;得到救护车服务的患者中（29.66±24.02）%的患者认为无出车必要;（22.11＋19.52）%患者的要求与院前急救服务管理的规定有冲突.结论 院前患者与院前急救服务伦理存在一定程度上的冲突.     

PaCO(2)/ETCO(2) gradient: early indicator of thrombolysis efficacy in a massive pulmonary embolism

End tidal CO(2) measurement may be helpful in detecting the efficacy of thrombolysis after a massive pulmonary embolism. We report the case of a 76-year-old man with a massive pulmonary embolism, who required early intubation and mechanical ventilation. Thrombolysis with rtpA (total dosage: 60 mg) was initiated. During this procedure, clinical data, arterial blood gases and end-tidal CO(2) with a capnograph were recorded. Before thrombolysis the P(a-ET)CO(2) gradient was raised to 25 mmHg. During thrombolysis, the clinical data improved and the P(a-ET) gradient fell to 14 mmHg. We postulate that the P(a-ET)CO(2) gradient seems to be a reasonable indicator of efficacy of thrombolysis in this setting. However, the gradient did not return to normal values (4-5 mmHg). The possible reasons for this may be that during mechanical ventilation there was a large ventilation-perfusion ratio and the cardiac output may have still reduced. With these limitations, we conclude that the P(a-ET)CO(2) gradient should be evaluated as an indicator of pulmonary reperfusion in massive pulmonary embolism.     

Burning the EMS candle. EMS shifts and worker fatigue

Has coffee become your best friend? Do you sleep only in your dreams? Is your bed merely an illusion? If so, you are not alone; sleep deprivation is a fact of life for many EMS personnel. Though widely accepted, isn't it time that we question the effects of those long days and nights?