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COOLING PATIENTS IN AMBULANCES: A NEW TREATMENT FOR CARDIAC ARREST
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A new Australian study has found a novel technique
for resuscitating patients in the community environment following cardiac arrest.
Dr Stephen A Bernard and his colleagues, from the Intensive Care Unit at Dandenong Hospital in Victoria, recently studied the use of a rapid infusion of large-volume, ice-cold, intravenous fluid in 22 patients.
Presenting the study at a conference of the Australasian College for Emergency Medicine, he said most people who suffer a cardiac arrest in the community suffer severe brain damage due to lack of oxygen to the brain, despite successful resuscitation of the heart.
"Recently, studies of the use of hypothermia have found significant improvement in the outcome for such people.
"However, this treatment currently requires surface cooling with ice packs or cooling blankets and this has been found to be slow and impractical for routine emergency use.
"Also, surface cooling is not possible outside of a hospital environment."
Dr Bernard and his group found that the rapid infusion technique induces hypothermia over 25 minutes.
The process also resulted in significant improvements in blood pressure and body chemistry, without any significant adverse effects, and the technique is relatively simple and practical for routine use.
He believes it can be implemented by ambulance paramedics in the pre-hospital setting, and he has recently received a grant from Australia's National Health and Medical Research Council for further studies of this approach in ambulances.
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