Advanced emergency care - a critical evaluation Essay

Advanced emergency care - a critical evaluation - Essay Example ribed by Kouwenhoven et al as a means to resuscitate hearts that stopped beating, the intent was to use the procedure for sudden unexpected cardiac arrests in patients who were otherwise in good physiological condition. Kouwenhovens method of closed-chest cardiac compression improved the outcome of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) dramatically. In his first report of 20 patients undergoing CPR, Kouwenhoven had a 70% success rate (survival up to discharge). During the 40 years since the introduction of modern cardio-pulmonary resuscitation (CPR), there have been many advances in the field of emergency cardiovascular care (ECC). Contrary to Kouwenhoven’s report, recent research has shown that people who experience traumatic cardiac arrest rarely survive outside the hospital. If the person has suffered blunt trauma, cardiac arrest prior to reaching the hospital carries a 99% mortality rate in spite of ongoing efforts at resuscitation after arrival at the hospital(Perina, 2005) . Approximately 1% to 6% of patients suffering out-of-hospital cardiac arrest ultimately survive the event, and although survival rates are somewhat better for in-hospital arrest patients, a recent comprehensive report observed that only 17% of these patients were discharged alive( Engdahl J,2002) Unsatisfactory results of cardiopulmonary resuscitation procedures have for the most part attributed to its indiscriminate use. Various individual factors interfere with recovery from cardiopulmonary arrest. Despite the fact that the prediction of an individual outcome of such resuscitation is of great medical, ethical, and socio-economic interest, doubts about the decision whether or not to resuscitate a given patient, as well as about the consequences of either attitude, persist (Rogov, 1995). This decision should not be made only at the moment of cardiopulmonary arrest, but should also take the previous medical condition of the patient into account (Landry, 1992). Cardiopulmonary