Among OHCAs with nonshockable initial rhythms, the majority of patients were administered epinephrine >10 minutes after EMS arrival. Each minute delay in epinephrine administration was associated with decreased survival and unfavorable neurological outcomes. EMS agencies should consider strategies to reduce epinephrine administration times in patients with initial nonshockable rhythms.

Although risk of repeat access to prehospital/ED care for patients with hypoglycemia exists, it was less common among patients taking insulin and was not predicted by an initial refusal of transport.

Background Targeted temperature management (TTM) for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest is associated with improved functional survival and is a class I recommendation in resuscitation guidelines. However, patterns of utilization of TTM and adherence to recommended TTM guidelines in contemporary practice are unknown. Methods and Results In a multicenter, prospective cohort of consecutive adults with non-traumatic out-of-hospital cardiac arrest in the Resuscitation Outcomes Consortium in 2012 to 2015, we identified all adults (≥18 years) who were potential candidates for TTM. Of 37 898 out-of-hospital cardiac arrest patients at 186 hospitals across 10 Resuscitation Outcomes Consortium sites, 8313 survived for ≥4 hours after hospital arrival, of which, 2878 (34.6%) received TTM. Mean age was 61.5 years and 36.3% were women. Median hospital rate of TTM use was 27% (interquartile range [IQR]: 14%, 45%), with an over 2-fold difference across sites after accounting for differences in presentation characteristics (median odds ratio, 2.10 [1.83–2.26]). Notably, TTM utilization decreased during the study period (57.5% [2012] to 26.5% [2015], P <0.001) including among shockable out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (73.4% to 46.3%, P <0.001). When administered, the median rate of deviation from one or more recommended practices was 60% (IQR: 40%, 78%). The median rate for delayed onset of TTM was 13% (IQR: 0%, 25%), varying by 70% for identical patients across 2 randomly chosen hospitals (median odds ratio 1.70 [1.39–1.97]). Similarly, the median rate for TTM <24 hours was 20% (IQR: 0%, 34%) and for achieved temperature <32°C was 18% (IQR: 0%, 39%), with marked variation across sites (median odds ratios of 1.44 [1.18–1.64] and 1.98 [1.62–2.31], respectively). Conclusions There has been a substantial decline in the utilization of TTM with significant variation in its real-world implementation. Further standardization of contemporary post-resuscitation practices, like TTM, is critical to ensure that their potential survival benefit is realized.

CLINICIAN’S CAPSULEWhat is known about the topic?Transport of STEMI patients directly to the cath lab (STEMI bypass) by advanced care paramedics (ACPs) is common practice. The safety of this practice with primary care paramedics (PCPs) is unknown.What did this study ask?What is the prevalence and breakdown of events during PCP STEMI bypass?What did this study find?Clinically important events are common in STEMI bypass patients. A smaller proportion of events would be addressed differently by ACP compared to PCP protocols.Why does this study matter to clinicians?This study adds to the evidence that PCP STEMI bypass is safe.

Introduction: Recent years have brought an epidemic of opioid abuse to Canada. At present, in Ontario, Naloxone may not be administered by any paramedic without the direct online medical approval of a Base Hospital Physician (BHP). The objective of this study was to review the use of Naloxone by Emergency Medical Service (EMS) personnel, under the existing Advanced Life Support Patient Care Standards (ALS-PCS) medical directive for opioid toxicity, for safety and potential complications that may occur with removal of the mandatory patch point. Methods: This study was a retrospective ambulance call report review of consecutive Naloxone requests placed to a BHP of the Regional Paramedic Program of Eastern Ontario (RPPEO) between Oct 1st, 2013 and Oct 31st, 2015. The RPPEO consists of 10 prehospital services, both urban and rural jurisdictions, and has a mix of advance care and primary care paramedics. All ambulance call reports are electronically stored at the secured RPPEO data warehouse. Data was extracted using a standardized data collection tool. All ambulance call reports were reviewed by 2 independent authors (VC, NC). Compliance with the existing medical directive for opioid toxicity was determined. We calculated the frequency of denied Naloxone requests and the rationale for each patch refusal was recorded. We also categorized all adverse events associated with Naloxone administration. Results: From 244 patches, 215 patients were administered Naloxone. Only 7.8% (19/215) of requests for Naloxone were refused; 78.9% (15/19) did not meet existing inclusion criteria for Naloxone administration in the ALS-PCS medical directive for opioid toxicity because the patient’s respiration rate was above 12/min. Of the 215 patients who were administered Naloxone, adverse events were extremely uncommon: 5 (2.3%) became violent or verbally abusive, 1 (0.5%) was transiently hypertensive and 4 (1.9%) vomited. Conclusion: Requests for Naloxone to a BHP are common and yet are seldom declined. The use of prehospital Naloxone is associated with few adverse events. These results demonstrate that it would be safe to remove online medical direction for Naloxone from the ALS-PCS medical directive for opioid toxicity if combined with updated paramedic education.