Ogdendowns6340

management suggestions. GSK467 Note that these recommendations are not a substitution for close collaboration with medical control, and all adverse events should be promptly reported per organizational protocols. OBJECTIVE In prehospital helicopter emergency medical service (HEMS) settings, the medical team has limited monitoring options, usually restricted to systemic variables. Regional tissue oxygenation (rO2) can be assessed by near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS), but clinical NIRS monitors are unpractical ("big boxes" and additional cables) in HEMS. As an alternative, we identified a wearable, athlete training NIRS device (Moxy; Idiag, Fehraltorf, Switzerland) and hypothesized that it would be applicable in our HEMS setting. METHODS This feasibility study was performed at the Dutch HEMS Lifeliner 1. The Moxy sensor was tested in-flight and on ground. We tested various anatomic measurement spots, and multiple conditions and interventions were imposed to track rO2. RESULTS The rO2 measurements with the wearable Moxy NIRS device are both feasible and practical in an HEMS setting. Multiple conditions and interventions were tested successfully (eg, tourniquet placement [rO2↓], muscle compression [rO2↓], reperfusion [rO2↑], oxygen administration [rO2↑], hyperemia [rO2↑], and venous congestion [rO2↓]). CONCLUSION Our results suggest that rO2 measurements with the wearable Moxy NIRS device are both feasible and practical in HEMS, and Moxy allows the tracking of simulated pathophysiologic effects on rO2. Future studies will have to verify our preliminary data and elucidate if and how wearable NIRS monitoring may support treatment in HEMS and improve patient outcome. OBJECTIVE The Bhutan Emergency Aeromedical Retrieval (BEAR) Team is the only helicopter emergency medical service in Bhutan. This study was performed to review the clinical cases cared for by the BEAR Team, ascertain the types of interventions that were performed, and determine the outcomes of patients evacuated in its first year of operations. METHODS This is a retrospective observational study in which medical evacuations performed in the first year of operations were analyzed. The number of airlifts activated during the study period determined the sample size (171). Data were obtained from case logs and trip sheets. RESULTS The BEAR Team provided services to all regions of the country in its first year. The overall survival rate was 73.1%. The most common intervention required was securing a definitive airway (n = 24). The top 3 conditions requiring air medical retrieval were sepsis, acute mountain sickness, and trauma. CONCLUSION Helicopter emergency medical services are known to decrease the time to definitive treatment. This is particularly pertinent in Bhutan, given the scattered population distribution, long transport times, and distribution of medical resources and specialty care. This study is the first of its kind in Bhutan, and this can pave way to conduct more studies involving patients transported by air ambulance. OBJECTIVE Rapid sequence intubation (RSI) is associated with a number of complications that can increase morbidity and mortality. Among RSI agents used to blunt awareness of the procedure and produce amnesia, ketamine is unique in its classification as a dissociative agent rather than a central nervous system depressant. Thus, ketamine should have a lower risk of peri-RSI hypotension because of the minimal sympatholysis compared with other agents. Recent recommendations include the use of ketamine for RSI in hemodynamically unstable patients. The main goal of this analysis was to explore the incidence of hypotension and/or cardiopulmonary arrest in patients receiving ketamine, etomidate, midazolam, and fentanyl during air medical RSI. We hypothesized that ketamine would be associated with a lower risk of hemodynamic complications, particularly after adjusting for covariables reflecting patient acuity. In addition, we anticipated that an increased prevalence of ketamine use would be associated with a decreaseddesaturation, and cardiopulmonary arrest did not change over the study period. CONCLUSIONS Although the incidence of hemodynamic complications was higher in patients receiving ketamine, this may reflect a selection bias toward more hemodynamically unstable patients in the ketamine cohort. The incidence of hypotension and arrest did not change over time despite an increase in the prevalence of ketamine use for air medical RSI. These data do not support a safer hemodynamic profile for ketamine. OBJECTIVE Suction-assisted laryngoscopy and airway decontamination (SALAD) was created to assist with the decontamination of a massively soiled airway. This study aims to investigate the usefulness of SALAD training to prehospital emergency providers to improve their ability to intubate a massively contaminated airway. METHODS This was a prospective study conducted as a before and after teaching intervention. Participants were made up of prehospital providers who were present at regularly scheduled training sessions and were asked to intubate a high-fidelity mannequin simulating large-volume emesis before and after SALAD instruction. They were subsequently tested on 3-month skill retention. Twenty subjects participated in all stages of the study and were included in the analysis. RESULTS The median time to successful intubation for all study participants before instruction was 60.5 seconds (interquartile range [IQR] = 44.0-84.0); post-training was 43.0 seconds (IQR = 38.0-57.5); and at the 3-month follow-up, it was 29.5 seconds (IQR = 24.5-39.0). The greatest improvement was seen on subgroup analysis of the slowest 50th percentile where the median time before instruction was 84.0 seconds (IQR = 68.0-96.0); post-instruction was 41.5 seconds (IQR = 36.0-65.0); and at the 3-month follow-up, it was 29.5 seconds (IQR = 25.0-39.0). CONCLUSION The implementation of the SALAD technique through a structured educational intervention improved time to intubation and the total number of attempts. OBJECTIVE Embolectomy is standard for select occlusions up to 24 hours. Transfer patients may have worse outcomes than those originating in embolectomy centers. We developed the Brain Emergency Management Initiative (BEMI) protocol to streamline this transfer process and mimic the urgency that surrounds ST-elevation myocardial infarction cardiac evaluations. METHODS We conducted an exploratory assessment of consecutive acute telestroke patients transferred for potential intervention in pre-BEMI versus BEMI periods. Times included spoke in, spoke out, hub in, and groin puncture. Outcomes included discharge destination and symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage. RESULTS Overall, 68 transfers were assessed. There was a higher National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke in BEMI (11 pre-BEMI vs. 20 B.M., P = .01). There were shorter spoke door in to door out (143 vs. 118 minutes, P = .01) and spoke door out to hub door in times (23 minutes pre-BEMI vs. 21 minutes BEMI, P = .001). For embolectomy patients, there was shorter hub door in to reperfusion (83 minutes pre-BEMI vs.