Clinical Research Directory

Brain Blood Flow and Cerebral Autoregulation Monitoring in Critically Ill Children

This study uses a non-invasive (external) ultrasound test called Transcranial Doppler (TCD) to measure how blood flows through the major arteries of the brain of children receiving care in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU). TCD is already used for clinical reasons in many children, but it is not part of routine monitoring for every critically ill child. By using TCD, the investigators hope to better understand how brain blood flow changes during illness. They will also track children's functional status from before their illness to the time of PICU discharge to explore how brain blood flow patterns relate to neurological outcomes.125 participants will be enrolled and will be on study while in the PICU, estimated to be 3-14 days.

In-hospital Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation With Balloon Occlusion of the Descending Aorta

This study will test if a sustained Return of Spontaneous Circulation (ROSC) in patients with cardiac arrest is more frequent when patients receive advanced cardiac life support (ACLS) alone or when they receive ACLS plus a balloon occlusion of the thoracic aorta.

Biomarkers After Out-of-hospital Cardiac Arrest- a STEPCARE Substudy

A prospective multicenter biomarker study with adult patients treated on intensive care units after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. Patients will be recruited from specific sites participating in the Sedation, Temperature and Pressure After Cardiac Arrest and Resuscitation (STEPCARE) trial. (ClinicalTrials.gov ID NCT05564754). Blood samples will be collected at 12, 24, 48, and 72 hours after randomization in selected sites, aliquoted and frozen on-site. After trial completion, samples will be stored in a central biobank. Sample analysis will be performed in batch after trial completion. Functional outcome will be assessed at 30 days and 6 months after cardiac arrest.

Resting Energy Expenditure and Substrate Consumption in Cardiac Arrest Patients Under Target Temperature Management

This study is a single-center, prospective, observational study. According to the sample size formula, an estimated 40 cases should be collected, all of whom are from the emergency intensive care unit. After successful cardiopulmonary resuscitation, the enrolled patients will be transferred to the emergency intensive care unit for further standardized target temperature management (TTM). They will be divided into 33 ° C hypothermia group and 36 ° C hypothermia group according to the patient's core body temperature. The baseline data of the patients will be collected at the beginning. After admission to the hospital, they were fasted within 24 hours to reach the target temperature, and then 20kcal/kg/d parenteral nutrition will be given. At selected time points (T0: the initial time point before TTM; T1: the core temperature was reduced to 33 ° C or 36 ° C; T2-T4: 33 ° C or 36 ° C was maintained for 24h, 48h, 72h; T5: the end of rewarming; Tend: the last REE measurement before discharge or death) , various observation indicators will be collected, including resting energy expenditure (REE), glucose oxidation rate, fat oxidation rate, protein oxidation rate, and metabolism of three major nutrients Proportion. Neurological outcomes were followed up 28 days after onset according to the Cerebral Performance Categories (CPC) score.

Resuscitative TEE Collaborative Registry

The general objective of this study is to evaluate the clinical impact and safety of focused, point-of-care transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) used during the evaluation of critically-ill patients in the emergency and intensive care settings. The target population for this study are critically-ill patients over the age of 18 who as part of their routine clinical care are receiving a focused TEE. The primary objective of this study is to determine the clinical impact and safety of TEE performed during the evaluation of critically-ill patients in the emergency department and intensive care settings. The secondary objective(s) of this study are to characterize the use of this imaging modality in the subsets of critically-ill patients in shock and cardiac arrest; including but not limited to; description of the frequency of studies, clinical indications, clinician characteristics, echocardiography findings, timing of studies, procedure-related complications and patient outcomes.

Prevention of Infection of the Respiratory Tract Through Application of Non-Invasive Methods of Secretion Suctioning

Adults who are unconscious or severely ill and need a breathing tube connected to a ventilator are at high risk of developing a lung infection (pneumonia) within the first few days in the intensive care unit. This early pneumonia affects up to 30 to 50 % of certain high-risk patients, prolongs the time on the ventilator and in hospital, and increases the use of antibiotics. Two strategies are commonly used today to try to prevent this infection: a short, three-day course of an intravenous antibiotic, and removal of secretions from the airway with a sterile suction catheter. Both have limitations - antibiotics can favour the growth of resistant bacteria, and catheter suctioning is uncomfortable and may injure the airway. PIRÁMIDES is a small (60-patient) pilot study that compares the current practice with two non-invasive, mechanical alternatives for keeping the airway clear: a continuous low-pressure suction system built into a special breathing tube, and a device that produces a gentle, programmed "artificial cough" through the ventilator. Adult patients who are intubated for severe trauma, severe brain injury, stroke, resuscitated cardiac arrest or other causes of decreased consciousness are randomly assigned, in equal numbers, to one of the three approaches and followed for 14 days, with a final visit at day 90. The main goal is to find out which of the three strategies best prevents early pneumonia, and which provides the best overall result for patients when survival, severity of infection, need for additional antibiotics and side effects are considered together. To make these comparisons as fair as possible in an open-label study, an independent committee of doctors not involved in patient care reviews each suspected pneumonia case without knowing which strategy the patient received. The results will help design a larger trial to confirm which approach is safest and most effective for preventing early pneumonia in critically ill patients on a ventilator.

Initial Double Sequential External Defibrillation in Out of Hospital Cardiac Arrest

Double Sequential External Defibrillation (DSED) represents an alternative treatment of refractory ventricular fibrillation (rVF) in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA). The procedure consists of two defibrillators that administer shocks at the same time. Currently, the procedure is not initiated before at least three failed attempts with one defibrillator. This can delay the potential benefits of establishing DSED earlier in the treatment. Studies have shown that early defibrillation is crucial for survival in OHCA patients, and in 2022, a clinical trial showed that survival in patients treated with DSED was higher compared to standard treatment. The effect of initiating OHCA treatment is unknown. The DUALDEFIB trial seeks to investigate if treating OHCA patients with DSED as an initial treatment will increase survival and provide improved neurological outcome.

CCSV - Post Market Clinical Follow-up Study

The main goal of this observational study is the evaluation of Chest Compression Synchronized Ventilation (CCSV) regarding oxygenation in terms of PaO2 assessed by routine blood gas analysis, hemodynamic effects, 30-day outcome and safety in comparison to Intermittent Positive Pressure Ventilation (IPPV) as data in humans is sparse especially in direct comparison to other ventilation modes. Cardiac arrest patients in Vienna, Austria will be preclinically randomized (IPPV and CCSV) and ventilated accordingly during CPR. Differences in oxygenation, decarboxylation, systemic perfusion and cerebral oxygenation, the patient's 30-day outcome as well as ventilator-associated adverse events (e.g., pneumothorax) will be recorded and analyzed.

AI-powered ECG Analysis Using Willem™ Software in High-risk Cardiac Patients (WILLEM)

WILLEM is a multi-center, prospective and retrospective cohort study. The study will assess the performance of a cloud-based and AI-powered ECG analysis platform, named Willem™, developed to detect arrhythmias and other abnormal cardiac patterns. The main questions it aims to answer are: 1. A new AI-powered ECG analysis platform can automatice the classification and prediction of cardiac arrhythmic episodes at a cardiologist level. 2. This AI-powered ECG analysis can delay or even avoid harmful therapies and severe cardiac adverse events such as sudden death. The prerequisites for inclusion of patients will be the availability of at least one ECG record in raw data, along with patient clinical data and evolution data after more than 1-year follow-up. Cardiac electrical signals from multiple medical devices will be collected by cardiology experts after obtaining the informed consent. Every cardiac electrical signal from every subject will be reviewed by a board-certified cardiologist to label the arrhythmias and patterns recorded in those tracings. In order to obtain tracings of relevant information, \>95% of the subjects enrolled will have rhythm disorders or abnormal ECG's patterns at the time of enrollment.

Resuscitative Endovascular Balloon Occlusion of the Aorta in Non-traumatic Out of Hospital Cardiac Arrest

The primary aim of this trial is to assess the efficacy of resuscitative endovascular balloon occlusion of the aorta (REBOA) as an adjunct treatment to advanced cardiovascular life support (ACLS) in patients with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. Out of hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) carries a high mortality rate. The treatment of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest is ACLS as stated in the guidelines from the Norwegian Resuscitation Council and the European Resuscitation Guidelines. Recently, REBOA has been proposed as an adjunct treatment in management of non-traumatic cardiac arrest patients, because thoracic aortic occlusion provides a redistribution of the cardiac output to organs proximal to the occlusion. Preclinical studies demonstrate that REBOA during CPR provide both increased coronary artery blood flow and perfusion pressure and increased rates of return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC). This is the first prospective trial in the world to assess the efficacy of REBOA in non-traumatic cardiac arrest. The intervention is shown feasible in the pre-hospital setting. If this trial provides a signal of benefit in patients, this study could initiate further clinical research which could change current resuscitation practice world-wide.

RACE-CARS - RAndomized Cluster Evaluation of Cardiac ARrest Systems

RACE-CARS is a real-world cluster-randomized trial designed to evaluate a multifaceted community and health systems intervention aimed to improve outcomes of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. RACE-CARS will enroll 50 counties in North Carolina that are estimated to have a total of approximately 20,000 patients with cardiac arrest over a 4-year intervention period. County "clusters" will be randomized in a 1:1 ratio to intervention versus usual care. The trial duration is 7 years, which includes a 6-month start-up (including recruitment and randomization) period, a 12-month intervention training phase, a 4-year intervention period, a 12-month follow-up for to assess quality of life in survivors of OHCA, and a 6-month close-out and data analysis period.

Dual Anti-glutamate Therapy in Super-refractory Status Epilepticus After Cardiac Arrest

Status epilepticus (SE) is found in 20-30% of patients in coma after cardiac arrest, is often refractory to medical therapy and is considered a negative prognostic factor. Intensity and duration of treatment of refractory and super-refractory post-anoxic SE pose the ethical dilemma between futility of treatments and, conversely, their premature suspension. A recent study by the Epilepsy Center of the San Gerardo Hospital has shown that patients with super-refractory post-anoxic SE and favorable prognostic indicators can achieve a good functional outcome in more than 40% of cases, if treated with intensive and protracted therapy. However, there is profound uncertainty about the best combination of antiseizure medications and anesthetics to use in this condition. A combined anti-glutamatergic therapy with ketamine (anti-NMDA receptor) and perampanel (anti-AMPA receptor), aimed at counteracting the excitotoxicity linked to global cerebral ischemia, could be particularly effective in the treatment of super-refractory SE with post-anoxic etiology. Preliminary results in the first 26 patients treated in the Coordinating Center of the project indicate that this therapy appears safe and highly effective (80% SE resolution, 40% good neurological outcome). The aim of the SUPER-CAT study is to investigate the efficacy and safety of combined therapy with ketamine and perampanel (dual anti-glutamatergic therapy) in patients with post-anoxic super-refractory status epilepticus, compared to other therapies, using a multi-centre, retrospective, cohort study design.

A Comparative Study Between a Pre-hospital and an In-hospital Circulatory Support Strategy (ECMO) in Refractory Cardiac Arrest (APACAR2)

Cardiac arrest (CA) affects approximately 40,000 people in France. It is still a major cause of death in a young population. Management of CA is defined by international recommendations, detailed by learned societies in each country. It includes several links that are interconnected for its optimisation. Despite all these improvements, no progress, or little has been made in the survival of CA victims over the past few years in industrialised countries, and the survival rate in France is 3% to 5%. Refractory cardiac arrest is defined as failure, after 30 minutes of specialised resuscitation. It used to be the standard to admit that there was no hope of spontaneous cardiac activity and satisfactory neurological recovery after this period, except in cases of CA with neuroprotection (intoxication, hypothermia). External circulatory support such as "extracorporeal membrane oxygenation" (ECMO) makes it possible to replace the circulatory activity of the myocardium and the respiratory activity of the lungs. In in-hospital cardiac arrest (CA) some teams use ECMO with an improvement in the survival rate of 20% in comparison to standard resuscitation. This use demonstrates the possibility of neurological recovery independent of the recovery of spontaneous cardiac activity which can be differed. These results encouraged the use of ECMOs in cases of out-of-hospital refractory cardiac arrests. Patients who are victims of CA are resuscitated for 30 minutes on the spot where the CA occurs. They are then transferred to a specialised centre. The significant improvement in survival noted in in-hospital CAs was not observed in the French series of studies concerning out-of-hospital CAs. This survival is currently estimated at 4%. This difference can be partly explained by the difference in time between the beginning of cardiac massage and the implementation of circulatory support by ECMO ("low flow" period). This time period is directly correlated to survival. To demonstrate the superiority of this strategy in terms of survival, investigators would like to conduct a randomised comparative study of two strategies: 1) installation of an ECMO between the 20th minute to the 30 minute of CA, directly at the site of the CA, by emergency physicians and/or specifically trained resuscitators 2) On-site resuscitation optimised with secondary transfer to the hospital for the implementation of support. The purpose is to increase by 5% to 20% the survival of victims of out-of-hospital refractory cardiac arrests with a good neurological prognosis. Main objective: The hypothesis is that pre-hospital ECMO will result in survival for 20% of the patients, considering that the percentage of survival with in-hospital ECMO is less than 5%. Main judgement criterion: Survival with good neurological outcome (CPC 1 or 2) on discharge from intensive care or at 6 months Secondary judgement criteria: Success rate of the implementation of ECMO ECMO implementation time Immediate complications: haemorrhage, infection Number of organ harvesting The quality of survivors' neurological status according to the CPC neurological classification at D 28, 2 months and 1 year Predictive indicators of the prognosis during cardiac arrest via cerebral and biological monitoring Methodology, type of study: This is a prospective randomised study of current care Sample size (SS, power, risk): A total number of 105 patients in each group will make it possible to demonstrate at the alpha risk of 5% and a power of 1-β=90%, a significant difference in favour of early pre-hospital ECMO compared to the current practice with in-hospital ECMO.

Combined Whole-brain Structural and Functional MRI for the Prediction of Neurological Recovery After Cardiac Arrest

To assess the performance of a predictive model resulting from the analysis of sMRI/fMRI/contrast-enhanced MRI-derived personalized connectomic data, as compared with standard predictors (clinical examination, electrophysiology, serum biomarker, standard neuroimaging) collected ≥ 72h from sedation withdrawal and in normothermia condition, to predict anoxoischemic coma neurological outcome at 6 months.

Compression Is Life In Cardiac Arrest - Human Study (CILICA-HS).

The management of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest is complex and multifactorial. With an incidence between 5 and 15 per 10,000 (46,000 patients per year in France) and a survival rate of only 5% to 15%, the room for improvement remains significant even today and is based on fast and optimal care. Thus French and international recommendations insist on the central element of external chest compression (ECC) and especially its quality (Monsieurs KG and Al. Resuscitation 2015; 95: 1-80). Improving the chest compression fraction (CCF) by limiting time without cardiac massage (No-Flow) is a second major point of the recommendations (Vaillancourt C and Al. Resuscitation 2011; 82: 1501-7). The survival of cardiac arrest victims is closely related on this No-Flow time. The principle of the chain of survival (early warning - ECC - defibrillation - resuscitation) implies that the deterioration of a single link threaten the whole of the care. To meet these qualitative needs, ECC guidance devices have been developed. They make possible to improve the quality of the ECC achieved (Hostler D and Al. BMJ 2011; 342d512). Their use is one of the areas of improvement mentioned in the recommendations. Our team studied in simulation the prolonged effects of guidance on the quality of the ECC during a prolonged resuscitation, with encouraging results (Buléon C and Al. Am J Emerg Med 2016; 34: 1754-60). The investigators propose a study evaluating the efficiency of the guidance of the ECC and the impact of the time of relay on the CCF. The investigators formulate two hypotheses that they wish to test simultaneously using a 2x2 factorial design, in a multicenter randomized trial. The first assumption is that a 4-minute relay rate improves the CCF (by reducing the No-Flow time) compared to the currently recommended 2-minute relay rate. The second hypothesis is that a guiding device improves the quality of the ECC. This study should, over a period of 2 years, include 500 patients with cardiac arrest for whom specialized resuscitation is undertaken. The investigators hope by this study to improve the knowledge on the optimal rhythm of the ECC and to validate "in vivo" the interest for the guidance found on manikin. This study should make it possible to clarify the recommendations with a high level of evidence in this field and thus contribute to improving the prognosis of the victims of an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest.

Study of the Occurrence of Cardiocirculatory Arrest as a Function of the Level of Hypoxemia During a Maastricht 3 Procedure

Evaluation of the level of hypoxemia during the occurrence of cardiocirculatory arrest during a Maastricht III organ donation procedure.

fMRI in CardiaC arrEst With Uncertain Prognosis

The goal of this observational study is to determine whether specific advanced MRI measures are associated with functional outcomes in patients who are comatose after cardiac arrest. The main question\[s\] it aims to answer are: Aim 1: Determine if stimulus-based functional MRI (fMRI)-measured activations are independently associated with favorable neurological outcomes after cardiac arrest Aim 2: Determine if resting state functional MRI (rs-fMRI)-measured functional network connectivity is independently associated with favorable neurological outcomes after cardiac arrest. Aim 3: Determine if diffusion tensor imaging (DTI)-measured white matter integrity is associated with favorable neurological outcomes after cardiac arrest. Participants will undergo advanced MRI sequences at time of clinical MRI, and will be followed for 6 months post-arrest.

Identification of Neurological Prognostic Markers of Cardiac Arrest Patients Alive on 3rd Day

The aim of the study is to identify prognostication predictors of 6-months neurological outcome in survivors at day 3 after cardiac arrest (CA) treated with therapeutic hypothermia (TH).

Comparison of Chest Compressions Performed With the Lower Limb and the Classical Method (Lower_limb_CPR).

Chest compressions, alongside early defibrillation, are the most important component of basic life support for adults. High-quality compressions give the patient a chance to survive cardiac arrest. The chest compression technique, described for years in guidelines, requires kneeling next to the victim and pressing down on the center of the chest with both extended arms at a specific rate and depth. However, there is a lack of scientific data on whether alternative compression methods (for example, using a lower limb) can be considered equally effective in situations where conventional compressions are impossible (e.g., the witness to cardiac arrest is a person with a disability, with an upper limb injury, or an elderly person; or when there is very little space to kneel). The aim of the study is to determine whether compressions performed with the dominant foot by paramedic and nursing students can be considered comparable in quality to conventional compressions. Furthermore, subjective levels of physical fatigue are assessed. Participants are recruited from among paramedic and nursing students who voluntarily and knowingly consent to participate in the research study. Inclusion Criteria * Paramedic and nursing students from the Powiśle Academy of Applied Sciences who voluntarily and knowingly consent to participate in the study. * Completed first aid training during their studies. Exclusion Criteria * Lack of consent to participate in the study. * Education in another medical profession. Procedure Students are randomly assigned to the control and study groups. Before participating in the simulation scenario, participants complete a questionnaire asking several demographic questions (age, gender, education, physical activity). Participants then enter the simulation room individually. The activities are not videotaped. From the moment of randomization, students are anonymous to the researcher. Both when completing the questionnaires and recording data from the simulation scenario, participants will be assigned a unique number (generated solely for the study), which prevents identification. Upon entering the simulation room, participants receive all instructions verbally. Students' task in the simulation environment involves performing two minutes of continuous chest compressions. Participants in the control group perform these compressions traditionally, while those in the study group are asked to perform compressions using their dominant leg. Compression quality is assessed using a Prestan Manikin (2000 series) with the CPR FEEDBACK mobile app. Parameters such as compression depth, rate, and relaxation are assessed. Completion of chest compressions on the manikin marks the end of the simulation scenario. Furthermore, participants are verbally questioned after the simulation about their level of physical fatigue on a scale of 1 (none) to 10 (the most severe ever).

Vasopressin and Epinephrine Versus Epinephrine Alone in Cardiac Arrest

Recent studies have suggested that arginine-vasopressin could be more effective in the treatment of cardiac arrests. The last published study did not outline obvious improvements in the prognosis of all cardiac arrests but pointed out a possible increased survival rate when arginine-vasopressin is associated with epinephrine. The aim of this study is to compare the efficacy of two successive injections of epinephrine (1 mg) with two successive injections of epinephrine associated with arginine-vasopressin (40 UI) in out-of-hospital cardiac arrests occurring in adult patients. The primary endpoint is the survival rate at hospital admission. The inclusion period lasts 18 months and 2416 patients are planned to be enrolled.

Target-directed Management of Cerebral Oxygenation in Patients After Receiving ECPR

Neurological injury remains an important cause of morbidity and mortality in patients with ECPR. At present, the results of three prospective randomized controlled studies on ECPR are inconsistent, and it is inconclusive whether ECPR can improve the neurological outcomes of patients with refractory cardiac arrest. Several study found that extracorporeal membrane oxygenation nonsurvivors can lead toacute brain injury.Further research with a systematic neurologic monitoring is necessary to define the timing of acute brain injury in patients with extracorporeal membrane oxygenation.Moreover, brain injury that occurs during extracorporeal membrane oxygenation therapy is not easy to detect in time because of the use of analgesics, sedatives, and muscle relaxants. Surprisingly, little attention has been paid to the role of cerebral perfusion and oxygenation. Moreover,the features of cerebrovascular pathophysiology and optimal management strategies are still vague. Therefore multimodal neuromonitoring may be a valuable tool for detecting brain injury in patients with extracorporeal membrane oxygenation and providing early intervention guidance. Multimodal neuromonitoring, integrating tools such as near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS), transcranial Doppler, and continuous electroencephalography, may enable early detection of brain injury and guide targeted interventions. Hypothesis: Multimodal neuromonitoring combined with a standard care management will increase the proportion of patients achieving survival with favorable neurological outcome (Cerebral Performance Category \[CPC\] 1-2) at 30 days compared with standard care without protocolized neuromonitoring. Primary Objective: To test whether a multimodal neuromonitoring strategy improves 30-day survival with favorable neurological outcome (CPC 1-2) in adult patients with refractory cardiac arrest treated with ECPR.

Continuous Jugular Venous Oxygen Saturation (SjO2) Measurement After Cardiac Arrest

Patients successfully resuscitated from sudden cardiac arrest are often comatose, having suffered a period of low blood flow and oxygen delivery to the brain. They are also at risk of suffering further brain injury during the immediate period after resuscitation, in which the brain's normal regulatory functions are impaired. To diagnose and treat secondary brain injury in comatose patients after cardiac arrest, doctors use a variety of neurological monitoring techniques. One of these methods involves measuring the oxygen saturation of blood going into and out of the brain to determine whether the brain is receiving and utilizing oxygen in an optimal manner. The oxygen saturation of blood exiting the brain is called the jugular venous oxygen saturation (SjO2). It is measured by inserting a catheter into the jugular vein in the neck and sampling blood as it exits the skull. The blood sample is sent to the hospital laboratory and the oxygen saturation is measured on a blood gas machine. This method of SjO2 measurement has limitations, particularly that blood must be taken out of the patient and sent to the lab for analysis, which can only be done feasibly every few hours. Special catheters exist that can measure the oxygen saturation of blood passing by the tip of the catheter inside the patient on a second-by-second basis, without needing to withdraw blood and send it to the laboratory. With such rapidly available data, doctors may be able to better diagnose and treat brain oxygen abnormalities in post cardiac arrest patients. In this study, the investigators plan to determine the accuracy of an existing, Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-cleared catheter capable of continuous, indwelling measurement of venous blood oxygen saturation for SjO2 monitoring in comatose patients early after cardiac arrest. The SjO2 measurements from the study catheter will be compared with standard SjO2 measurements made by withdrawing blood and analyzing it in the laboratory to determine if the new catheter is accurate. The investigators will also collect blood samples using the study catheter to measure levels of specific proteins that indicate damage to brain tissue. The study will enroll 25 participants admitted to the intensive care unit at one hospital cared for by a group of doctors that specialize in the neurological care of patients after cardiac arrest. The investigators hypothesize that the study catheter will accurately measure SjO2 compared to the standard laboratory method.

Developing and Testing Drone-Delivered AEDs for Cardiac Arrests In Rural America

The overall goal of this project is to design, develop, and pilot test an emergency healthcare drone delivery system suitable for rural communities that can deliver AEDs to out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) locations more rapidly than can be achieved with current first responder and EMS systems. The goal is to determine whether this method of AED delivery can be achieved rapidly enough to justify a future clinical trial directly testing its ability to improve OHCA survival.

Compression Only CPR Versus Standard CPR in Out-Of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest - A Randomized Survival Study

Out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) is one of the leading causes of mortality in the industrialized world. Bystander CPR before arrival of the Emergency Medical Service (EMS) is associated with an increased chance of survival. During the last decade, the best form of bystander CPR has been debated. Chest Compression Only CPR (CO-CPR) has been advocated as a preferable method in situations where the bystander has no previous knowledge in CPR, both because its believed to be equally efficient but also a simplified form of CPR that could lead to a higher incidence of bystander-CPR. In an initiative to increase CPR rates the American Heart Association has launched public campaigns such as the "hands-only CPR" promoting CO-CPR as an option to S-CPR for adult non-asphyxic cardiac arrest. In the 2015 updates of the European resuscitation council guidelines it states that the confidence in the equivalence between the two methods is not sufficient to change current practice. Whether CO-CPR leads to a survival rate no worse than, or even superior to standard CPR in situations where the bystander has previous CPR training remains unclear. This clinical question remains unanswered while millions of people are trained in CPR worldwide each year. To investigate whether CO-CPR is non-inferior to standard CPR (S-CPR) when performed by a bystander with previous CPR training in witnessed, non-asphyxic cases of OHCA. Superiority testing will also be performed for the purpose of demonstrating a possible increase in survival with CO-CPR.