Performance of Resuscitation Skills by Paramedic Personnel in Chemical Protective Suits

Determine whether wearing a chemical protective suit increases time to successful completion of four resuscitation skills.This prospective experimental study examined the ability of civilian paramedic personnel to complete four resuscitative skills (electrical defibrillation, administration of epinephrine subcutaneously, intravenous cannulation, and tracheal intubation) carried out using standard methods on mannequins under two test conditions (wearing the protective suit and not wearing the suit). Primary outcome was time to successful completion of each skill.Sixteen paramedics were enrolled and completed each skill under two test conditions. Paramedics took longer to complete administration of epinephrine (87 vs. 60 seconds; p0.01) and intravenous cannulation (220 vs. 158 seconds; p0.01) tasks when wearing a protective suit. Wearing the suit did not impair electrical defibrillation (57 vs. 46 seconds) or tracheal intubation (79 vs 69 seconds).Chemical protective suit use increased time to successful completion of resuscitation skills where fine motor skills are required, namely administration of epinephrine subcutaneously and intravenous cannulation, but did not increase time to successful completion of resuscitation skills requiring gross motor skills, namely electrical defibrillation and tracheal intubation.