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Background: Bystander cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) improves survival from out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) but often is not performed. We hypothesized that subjects viewing very short Hands-Only CPR videos will (1) be more likely to attempt CPR in a simulated OHCA scenario and (2) demonstrate better CPR skills than untrained individuals. Methods and Results: This study is a prospective trial of 336 adults without recent CPR training randomized into 4 groups: (1) control (no training) (n=51); (2) 60-second video training (n=95); (3) 5-minute video training (n=99); and (4) 8-minute video training, including manikin practice (n=91). All subjects were tested for their ability to perform CPR during an adult OHCA scenario using a CPR-sensing manikin and Laerdal PC SkillReporting software. One half of the trained subjects were randomly assigned to testing immediately and the other half after a 2-month delay. Twelve (23.5%) controls did not even attempt CPR, which was true of only 2 subjects (0.7%; P=0.01) from any of the experimental groups. All experimental groups had significantly higher average compression rates (closer to the recommended 100/min) than the control group (P<0.001), and all experimental groups had significantly greater average compression depth (>38 mm) than the control group (P<0.0001). Conclusions: Laypersons exposed to very short Hands-Only CPR videos are more likely to attempt CPR and show superior CPR skills than untrained laypersons. Clinical Trial Registration- URL: http://www.clinicaltrials.gov. Unique identifier: NCT01191736. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Every year in the United States, >350 000 people have sudden cardiac arrest outside of a hospital environment. Sudden cardiac arrest is the unexpected loss of heart function, breathing, and consciousness and is commonly the result of an electric disturbance in the heart. Unfortunately, only ≈1 in 10 victims survives this dramatic event. Early access to 9-1-1 and early cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) are the first 2 links in the chain of survival for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. Although 9-1-1 is frequently accessed, in the majority of cases, individuals with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest do not receive lay rescuer CPR and wait for the arrival of professional emergency rescuers. Telecommunicators are the true first responders and a critical link in the cardiac arrest chain of survival. In partnership with the 9-1-1 caller, telecommunicators have the first opportunity to identify a patient in cardiac arrest and provide initial care by delivering CPR instructions while quickly dispatching emergency medical services. The telecommunicator and the caller form a unique team in which the expertise of the telecommunicator is provided just in time to a willing caller, transforming the caller into a lay rescuer delivering CPR. The telecommunicator CPR (T-CPR) process, also previously described as dispatch CPR, dispatch-assisted CPR, or telephone CPR, represents an important opportunity to improve survival from sudden cardiac arrest. Conversely, failure to provide T-CPR in this manner results in preventable harm. This statement describes the public health impact of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, provides guidance and resources to construct and maintain a T-CPR program, outlines the minimal acceptable standards for timely and high-quality delivery of T-CPR instructions, and identifies strategies to overcome common implementation barriers to T-CPR.

The American Heart Association previously recommended implementation of cardiac resuscitation systems of care that consist of interconnected community, emergency medical services, and hospital efforts to measure and improve the process of care and outcome for patients with cardiac arrest. In addition, the American Heart Association proposed a national process to develop and implement evidence-based guidelines for cardiac resuscitation systems of care. Significant experience has been gained with implementing these systems, and new evidence has accumulated. This update describes recent advances in the science of cardiac resuscitation systems and evidence of their effectiveness, as well as recent progress in dissemination and implementation throughout the United States. Emphasis is placed on evidence published since the original recommendations (ie, including and since 2010)., Competing Interests: The American Heart Association makes every effort to avoid any actual or potential conflicts of interest that may arise as a result of an outside relationship or a personal, professional, or business interest of a member of the writing panel. Specifically, all members of the writing group are required to complete and submit a Disclosure Questionnaire showing all such relationships that might be perceived as real or potential conflicts of interest., (© 2018 American Heart Association, Inc.)

Cardiopulmonary resuscitation is a lifesaving technique for victims of sudden cardiac arrest. Despite advances in resuscitation science, basic life support remains a critical factor in determining outcomes. The American Heart Association recommendations for adult basic life support incorporate the most recently published evidence and serve as the basis for education and training for laypeople and healthcare providers who perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation., Competing Interests: The American Heart Association makes every effort to avoid any actual or potential conflicts of interest that may arise as a result of an outside relationship or a personal, professional, or business interest of a member of the writing panel. Specifically, all members of the writing group are required to complete and submit a Disclosure Questionnaire showing all such relationships that might be perceived as real or potential conflicts of interest., (© 2017 American Heart Association, Inc.)

Background: Prior investigation of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest has raised the concern that ventricular fibrillation (VF) recurrence may be triggered by chest compression (CC) resumption. We investigated predictors of VF recurrence after defibrillation, including timing of CC resumption., Methods and Results: Patients with witnessed out-of-hospital cardiac arrest and initial rhythm of VF from an Utstein-style database were analyzed. For each shock that defibrillated VF, CC resumption and VF recurrence times were determined. Shocks were classified according to postshock rhythm. Factors (age, sex, time from dispatch to monitor/defibrillator application, and CC resumption) that could predict VF recurrence were analyzed. CC resumption was categorized into groups: CC1, 1 to 5 seconds; CC2, 6 to 10 seconds; CC3, 11 to 30 seconds; and CC4, >30 seconds. Eighty-eight subjects were analyzed, with a total of 285 shocks, with 226 shocks that achieved asystole (n=102), organized rhythm (n=120), or monomorphic ventricular tachycardia (n=4). After a successful shock, CC resumption occurred at a median (interquartile range) of 8 (5-18) seconds. VF recurred after 166 shocks (74%) and recurred within 30 seconds in 69 shocks. There was no significant relationship between VF recurrence and factors analyzed including CC resumption time, nor stratified by postshock rhythm. The hazard ratios (HRs) for VF recurrence within 30 seconds for later CC groups (CC2, CC3, and CC4) relative to early CC resumption (CC1) were as follows: HR(CC2)=1.05 (P=0.9); HR(CC3)=1.75 (P=0.1); and HR(CC4)=0.67 (P=0.4)., Conclusions: VF recurrence within 30 seconds of a defibrillatory shock was not dependent on timing of CC resumption in patients with witnessed arrest and initial rhythm of VF., (© 2014 American Heart Association, Inc.)

The "2010 American Heart Association Guidelines for Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation and Emergency Cardiovascular Care" increased the focus on methods to ensure that high-quality cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is performed in all resuscitation attempts. There are 5 critical components of high-quality CPR: minimize interruptions in chest compressions, provide compressions of adequate rate and depth, avoid leaning between compressions, and avoid excessive ventilation. Although it is clear that high-quality CPR is the primary component in influencing survival from cardiac arrest, there is considerable variation in monitoring, implementation, and quality improvement. As such, CPR quality varies widely between systems and locations. Victims often do not receive high-quality CPR because of provider ambiguity in prioritization of resuscitative efforts during an arrest. This ambiguity also impedes the development of optimal systems of care to increase survival from cardiac arrest. This consensus statement addresses the following key areas of CPR quality for the trained rescuer: metrics of CPR performance; monitoring, feedback, and integration of the patient's response to CPR; team-level logistics to ensure performance of high-quality CPR; and continuous quality improvement on provider, team, and systems levels. Clear definitions of metrics and methods to consistently deliver and improve the quality of CPR will narrow the gap between resuscitation science and the victims, both in and out of the hospital, and lay the foundation for further improvements in the future.

Background and Purpose: ResolutionMD mobile application runs on a Smartphone and affords vascular neurologists access to radiological images of patients with stroke from remote sites in the context of a telemedicine evaluation. Although reliability studies using this technology have been conducted in a controlled environment, this study is the first to incorporate it into a real-world hub and spoke telestroke network. The study objective was to assess the level of agreement of brain CT scan interpretation in a telestroke network between hub vascular neurologists using ResolutionMD, spoke radiologists using a Picture Archiving and Communications System, and independent adjudicators., Methods: Fifty-three patients with stroke at the spoke hospital consented to receive a telemedicine consultation and participate in a registry. Each CT was evaluated by a hub vascular neurologist, a spoke radiologist, and by blinded telestroke adjudicators, and agreement over clinically important radiological features was calculated., Results: Agreement (κ and 95% CI) between hub vascular neurologists using ResolutionMD and (1) the spoke radiologist; and (2) independent adjudicators, respectively, were: identification of intracranial hemorrhage 1.0 (0.92-1.0), 1.0 (0.93-1.0), neoplasm 1.0 (0.92-1.0), 1.0 (0.93-1.0), any radiological contraindication to thrombolysis 1.0 (0.92-1.0), 0.85 (0.65-1.0), early ischemic changes 0.62 (0.28-0.96), 0.58 (0.30-0.86), and hyperdense artery sign 0.40 (0.01-0.80), 0.44 (0.06-0.81)., Conclusions: CT head interpretations of telestroke network patients by vascular neurologists using ResolutionMD on Smartphones were in excellent agreement with interpretations by spoke radiologists using a Picture Archiving and Communications System and those of independent telestroke adjudicators using a desktop viewer., Clinical Trial Registration Information: www.clinicaltrials.gov unique identifier NCT00829361.

Background and Purpose: The American Stroke Association guidelines emphasized the need for further high-quality studies that assess agreement by radiologists and nonradiologists engaged in emergency telestroke assessments and decision-making. Therefore, the objective of this study was to determine the level of agreement of baseline brain CT scan interpretations of patients with acute stroke presenting to telestroke spoke hospitals between central reading committee neuroradiologists and each of 2 groups, spoke hospital radiologists and hub hospital vascular neurologists (telestrokologists)., Methods: The Stroke Team Remote Evaluation Using a Digital Observation Camera Arizona trial was a prospective, urban single-hub, rural 2-spoke, randomized, blinded, controlled trial of a 2-way, site-independent, audiovisual telemedicine and teleradiology system designed for remote evaluation of adult patients with acute stroke versus telephone consultation to assess eligibility for treatment with intravenous thrombolysis. In the telemedicine arm, the subjects' CT scans were interpreted by the hub telestrokologist and in the telephone arm by the spoke radiologist. All subjects' CT scans were subsequently interpreted centrally, independently, and blindly by 2 hub neuroradiologists. The primary CT outcome was determination of a CT-based contraindication to thrombolytic treatment. Kappa statistics and exact agreement rates were used to analyze interobserver agreement., Results: Fifty-four subjects underwent random assignment. The overall agreement for the presence of radiological contraindications to thrombolysis was excellent (0.91) and did not differ substantially between the hub telestrokologist to neuroradiologist and spoke radiologist to neuroradiologist (0.92 and 0.89, respectively)., Conclusions: In the context of a telestroke network designed to assess patients with acute stroke syndromes, agreement over the presence or absence of radiological contraindications to thrombolysis was excellent whether the comparisons were between a telestrokologist and neuroradiologist or between spoke radiologist and neuroradiologist., Clinical Trial Registration: URL: http://www.clinicaltrials.gov. Unique identifier: NCT00623350.

Purpose of Review: Early bystander cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) provides a vital bridge after collapse from cardiac arrest until defibrillation can be performed. However, due to multiple barriers and despite large-scale public CPR training, this life-saving therapy is still not rendered in a majority of cardiac arrest events. As a result, cardiac arrest survival remains very low in most communities., Recent Findings: Several large-scale studies have shown the benefits of dispatch-assisted CPR. These studies have confirmed that on-going dispatch-assisted CPR programs that use a simplified and abbreviated set of standardized questions can hasten the recognition of cardiac arrest. Dispatchers can also utilize strategies to help bystanders overcome the obstacles to beginning CPR. In some communities, dispatch-assisted CPR accounts for up to half of all bystander CPR. Dispatch-assisted CPR programs combined with large-scale public CPR training may be what is needed to elevate CPR rates and survival from out-of-hospital cardiac arrest nationally., Summary: This review focuses on the rationale and evolving science behind dispatch CPR instructions, as well as some best practices for implementing and measuring dispatch-assisted CPR with the goal of maximizing its potential to save lives from sudden cardiac arrest.

Background: The rate of patients being treated with thrombolytic therapy is low, in part, due to a shortage of vascular neurologists, especially in rural communities. Two-way audio-video communication through telemedicine has been demonstrated to be a reliable method to assess neurologic deficits due to stroke and maybe more efficacious in determining thrombolytic therapy eligibility than telephone-only consultation., Objective: To determine the efficacy of telemedicine versus telephone-only consultations for decision making in acute stroke situations., Methods: The objective was addressed through the development of a structured, critically appraised topic. Participants included consultant and resident neurologists, clinical epidemiologists, medical librarian, and clinical content experts in the fields of vascular neurology, emergency medicine, and telemedicine. Participants started with a clinical scenario and a structured question, devised search strategies, located and compiled the best evidence, performed a critical appraisal, synthesized the results, summarized the evidence, provided commentary, and declared bottom-line conclusions., Results: : A single randomized, blinded, prospective trial comparing telephone-only consultations to telemedicine consultations for acute stroke was selected and appraised. Correct acute stroke treatment decisions were made more often in the telemedicine group versus the telephone-only group (98% vs. 82%, [number needed to assess = 6]). Stroke telemedicine when compared with telephone-only consultations was more sensitive (100% vs. 58%), more specific (98% vs. 92%), had a more favorable positive likelihood ratio (LR: 41 vs. 7) and negative likelihood ratio (LR: 0 vs. 0.5), and had higher predictive values (positive predictive value 94% vs. 76%, and negative predictive value 100% vs. 84%) for the determination of thrombolysis eligibility., Conclusion: Stroke telemedicine when compared with telephone-only consultations is an effective method to determine thrombolysis eligibility for acute stroke patients who do not have immediate access to a stroke neurologist.

Background: Despite a large body of resuscitation research, the optimal timing and approach to prognosticating futility after nontraumatic cardiac arrest remains controversial. Postresuscitation anoxic-ischemic encephalopathy may leave patients cognitively disabled and dependent, minimally conscious, or in a persistent vegetative state. Neurologists are frequently called upon to assess comatose postcardiac arrest patients to communicate accurate prognostic information and to assist in planning the most appropriate level of care. Serum neuron specific enolase (NSE), when used in conjunction with other available prognostic tools, may be a useful tool for predicting clinical outcome in this patient population., Objective: Determine the clinical utility of a serum NSE measurement for predicting the neurologic outcome of a survivor after resuscitation from a nontraumatic cardiac arrest., Methods: We addressed the question through the development of a structured, critically appraised topic. Participants included consultant and resident neurologists, clinical epidemiologists, medical librarian, and clinical content experts in the fields of emergency medicine, cardiac resuscitation, and critical care neurology. Participants started with a clinical scenario and a structured question, devised search strategies, located and compiled the best evidence, performed a critical appraisal, synthesized the results, summarized the evidence, provided commentary, and declared bottom-line conclusions., Results: A single recent prospective cohort study, which assessed the predictive value of serum NSE was selected and appraised. A level of 80 ng/mL was determined to predict persistent coma with a sensitivity of 63% (95% CI, 49%-75%), and a specificity of 100% (95% CI, 97%-100%), positive predictive value (PPV) of 100%, negative predictive value (NPV) of 84%, and a negative LR of 0.37., Conclusions: The specificity of serum NSE levels >80 ng/mL is sufficiently high that, when it is used with other clinical and electrophysiological data, it could be useful as a prognostic indicator of neurologic outcome after cardiac arrest. Although serum NSE is an appealing, simple, readily available test, prediction of neurologic outcome after resuscitation from cardiac arrest must not rely solely on a serum biomarker, but must be determined in the context of other patient characteristics and neurologic examination findings.