Emergency ambulance transport in those with Autistic Spectrum Condition

Communication / Emergency / Pre-Hospital / prehospital
Cite this article as:
Vicki Marchant. Emergency ambulance transport in those with Autistic Spectrum Condition, Don't Forget the Bubbles, 2021. Available at:
https://doi.org/10.31440/DFTB.33246

A small bit of knowledge about Autistic Spectrum Condition (ASC) can make a huge difference in how an emergency situation evolves. ASC is also referred to as ASD – Autistic Spectrum Disorder – but there is a move away from using the term “disorder”, driven by autistic people themselves. Many see their autism as part of their character and identity, hence “autistic people” rather than “people with autism”, and prefer to think in terms of a condition rather than a disorder due to the negative connotations this carries.

Unlike the UK, Ireland does not have official clinical guidance for transporting those with ASC or communication difficulties to the ED. There are two ambulance services in Ireland: the Dublin Fire Brigade (DFB), who run 12 ambulances in the greater Dublin area, and the National Ambulance Service (NAS) who run the remainder of the ambulances in Dublin and the rest of the country. Neither has any formal training in the management of those with ASC. Although some personnel have knowledge of the intricacies of the condition this is mostly due to personal experience with friends or family members.

A call to a situation where the patient has ASC is usually a last resort. Family members don’t want to make the situation worse by calling in strangers and will have tried their best to de-escalate the situation themselves. If the call has been made, the situation has gone past their control and they are admitting they need help. The parents may feel they have failed their child and the attitude of the staff coming into the house can make a huge difference to all involved.

Sam is 15, he’s 5ft 10 and 20 stone. He trips going out the front door and twists his ankle. He starts screaming and tries to get up. He puts weight on his foot and it goes from under him, further aggravating the injury. Due to his size and his injury, he is unable to get up. His dad tries to help him but is unable to lift him. He is screaming very loudly and a crowd is gathering. His family call an ambulance which arrives after 15 minutes. You can hear his screams as you pull up. There is a large crowd gathered, watching and offering ‘helpful’ suggestions to his father who is sitting behind Sam gripping him very tightly. Sam is trying to headbutt his dad and writhing around in apparent agony. You can see his ankle is injured but you can’t get near enough to assess him without getting kicked. You have to shout loudly to make yourself heard and the crowd are enjoying the entertainment.

You feel you need a few more bodies here to help and escalate the call to a behavioural emergency scenario which warrants the police being called. Within a few minutes you have two police officers with you shouting at the dad, trying to get him to stop assaulting the boy. The dad tries to explain but can’t be heard over the noise Sam is making, which has somehow gotten louder. You, your colleague and the two police are standing over Sam trying to hold him down with the dad telling you to get away. The crowd are filming everything. Every time Sam kicks out, he injures his ankle more. The situation is completely out of control.

From a Different Perspective…..

Sam is 15, he’s 5ft 10 and 20 stone. He is autistic and non-verbal. He trips going out the front door and twists his ankle. He starts screaming and tries to get up. He puts weight on his foot and it goes from under him, further aggravating the injury. Due to his size and his injury, he is unable to get up. His dad tries to help him but is unable to lift him. He is screaming very loudly due to pain and frustration and a crowd is gathering. His family call an ambulance which arrives after 15 minutes. You can hear his screams as you pull up. There is a large crowd gathered, watching and offering ‘helpful’ suggestions to his father who is sitting behind Sam bear-hugging him very tightly. One of Sam’s coping mechanisms to deal with unusual situations is to headbutt whatever is around him, in this case the ground, so his dad is sitting behind him to try and stop this but also giving deep pressure to Sam which helps comfort him. You can see Sam’s ankle is injured and a quick survey of the situation shows you that Sam is aggravated by the noise in the crowd also.

You ask your partner to quietly move the crowd on and you slowly approach Sam and his dad but stay out of kicking distance. You introduce yourself to Sam and his dad in a calm, quiet voice and ask what you can do to help.  By asking this way you are acknowledging that the parent knows this child the best. You may be asked to go into the house and get an object to help calm the child: a blanket, a tablet or a favourite toy. In this case Sam’s dad asks you to go in and get his sleeping bag which he immediately puts over Sam’s head. Sam continues to sob but immediately stops kicking out. You are able to chat with Sam’s visibly shaken dad about what happened, and you can look at Sam’s injured ankle. You say what you are going to do and Sam’s dad says it in words Sam may understand. Although he protests a bit, you are able to assess his ankle and determine he needs ED assessment as it may be broken.

You are able to splint his ankle and, between the 3 of you, help Sam onto the chair and get him into the ambulance. His father asks if you can dim the lights and he runs back into the house and grabs a few bits including a tablet which he gives to Sam who is now trying to undo the seat belts. Sam calms immediately and even lets you do some obs when he’s distracted although he thoroughly dislikes the BP monitor and rips the cuff off. You pre-alert the hospital to ask if they can find a quiet space for Sam to wait to be seen and give them chance to review Sam’s care pathway, if he has one.

If you have no knowledge of ASC you will approach this scenario as an ordinary call and walk into chaos. You will see the father essentially holding this child down for no reason and you will act accordingly and put the safety of the child first.

The Autistic Spectrum

People with ASC vary from having very mild symptoms and being able to manage very well to someone like Sam who is completely non-verbal and also has an intellectual disability. The autistic spectrum isn’t a linear thing, with “high functioning” at one end and “low functioning” at the other. Think of it as a pie, made up of variable-sized slices – the social communication difficulties slice may be quite big, whilst the slices for inflexible thinking and anxiety may be fairly small. The whole pie is different for every autistic person. “Slices” vary, depending on the source used, but commonly also include sensory issues, routine, repetitive movements and intense focus or interests.

Autistic Symptoms and Coping Mechanisms

One of the most common symptoms of ASC is a dislike of change in routine, leading to use of personal coping mechanisms which can be seen as self-harm: head-butting walls, picking at skin etc. In this case, Sam was trying to headbutt the ground which would have caused him more injuries than just his ankle. As with some with ASC, Sam does not understand the consequences of doing this so could hurt himself badly before stopping.

Some autistic people have sensory processing difficulties. This can mean that the body misinterprets certain sensations – light touch may be uncomfortable, deep pressure may be comforting, loud or sudden noise may be very distressing. This is why Sam’s dad had a very tight hold on his upper arms. Other coping mechanisms in those with ASC may include talking about one subject, loudly and constantly, perhaps to distract themselves from something distressing, or sometimes if they feel they are not being engaged with. Some may not understand you may be talking to someone else about something more important, the situation is scary to them and this is their way to cope. Further symptoms may include a dislike of loud noises, bright lights, strangers or crowds.

You will be seeing these patients on an already bad day. Something unexpected has happened which has put them out of their comfort zone already, but it has happened to the extent that someone else has been called to their side. This can often be in a noisy environment with lots of people trying to help. Their senses are overloaded and they will need to employ all their coping mechanisms to try and manage.

You will not always know immediately that a person has ASC. They may tell you if they are able, or a family member/carer may say. If you feel the person’s reactions are out of proportion given the situation, consider whether they may be autistic.

Tips to Remember

Unfortunately, parents are used to getting unsolicited advice about how to best manage their children and a large number of people feel the symptoms of ASC are just a child being naughty with poor parenting. Parents may appear defensive at first but asking how you can help may calm them as they realise you are there to help rather than criticise.

Speak quietly and don’t crowd the patient. Don’t touch them without asking. Ask what you can do to help: do they have a toy/blanket/comforter with them that you can get? Is there anything that usually helps to make them feel more comfortable? If they are in the ambulance, can you turn the lights down and travel without the siren?

First and foremost, go into every situation with an open mind and ask what you can do to help. Not everything is as it looks and by being aware of this you can turn chaos into, well, less chaos.

July 13, 2021 2
Peripheral IV cannulation

miniMAGICal thinking

Emergency / General paediatrics / Pre-Hospital
Cite this article as:
Amanda Ullman, Tricia Kleidon and Elizabeth Andresen. miniMAGICal thinking, Don't Forget the Bubbles, 2021. Available at:
https://doi.org/10.31440/DFTB.33480

18-month-old Byron presents to ED with septic arthritis. You know you need to take cultures, so you think you might pop a peripheral intravenous cannula in his antecubital while you’re there – he’ll need intravenous (IV) antibiotics for sure, maybe some fluids. He’s toddler-level chubby, and not exactly compliant.

Time for a deep breath.

Inserting peripheral intravenous catheters (PIVCs) is a core skill in paediatric acute care. We often make a quick decision to insert a PIVC in order to ensure accurate diagnosis and commence important treatments. We often worry about our capacity to insert the PIVC, especially in children like Byron. The vessels can be hard to visualise and palpate, and putting a young child going through a painful procedure can be stressful for all concerned.

But quick decisions have consequences

We know that PIVCs can result in harm. Multiple insertion attempts, extravasations, and infections are all a risk. They often stop working prior to the completion of treatment. PIVCs last only 48 hours, on average, in children and young people. When they fail, we not only pause treatment, but we frequently have to start the process all over again. According to children (and their families) cannulation is the most stressful part of their healthcare experience.

Think carefully about the IV, before it is inserted.

We have an array of IV devices and a variety of places to insert them. In 2020, the Michigan Appropriateness Guide for Intravenous Catheters (miniMAGIC) was published. Its aim was to improve the safe selection of IVs in children across a range of indications. You can read them (open access) here; or download the app for Google or Apple.

In Queensland (Australia) we have developed our first practice targets to improve IV selection, insertion, and securement based on miniMAGIC, and thus reduce IV associated harm. We are currently rolling them out at Queensland Children’s Hospital (Australia). These are:

Paediatric IVC and miniMAGIC

Improving device selection

Peripheral devices (like PIVC or midline catheters) should only be used for peripherally compatible therapies, outside of an emergency or crisis

To ensure safe administration of ‘at risk’ infusates, we consider:

  • Is this PIVC working? Check for good flow prior to administration
  • Is this PIVC optimally placed? Ideally, it should be away from a joint?
  • Are we giving this medication slowly and with enough dilution? Check the Paediatric Injectable Guidelines (PIG)
  • Is this PIVC site visible? It shouldn’t be coverfed up with crepe bandages

We are proactive in our device planning:  

  • If the child needs >2 days of IV therapy, make sure the PIVC is optimally positioned (e.g., in forearm)
  • If the child needs >5 days of IV therapy, consider a midline catheter

STOP and THINK, Make a plan! If this PIVC stops working, do we need to replace it immediately or are there other options? If this child is going to theatre, can we have the device ‘upgraded’?

Peripherally Inserted Central Catheters (PICCs) should not be inserted for antibiotic administration without discussion with the Infectious Diseases team. We use the minimal lumens necessary for treatment (NO just in case PICC/additional lumens).

Improving device insertion

Inserted them away from joints, where possible, looking for visible AND palpable vessels in the forearm. If there is nothing obvious it is time to turn to the trusty ultrasound machine if you have the skills. Even when we place topical anaesthetics, we pop some on the mid-forearm rather than antecubital fossa.

When faced with a child without palpable or visible vessels, don’t have multiple IV insertion attempts. Instead, refer early to an experienced clinician (+/- USG).

Improving device securement

keep the cannula visible, clean and secure
  • Keep it visible: Do not use crepe bandages; use tubular bandages.
  • Keep it clean: Use sterile products
  • Keep it secure: Use two points of securement

Take a look at Henry’s Twelve tips to placing a well secured PIVC.

For Byron, this means we consider the planned duration of intravenous antibiotics, assess his vessels, and our skills. If practical, Byron would have a PIVC inserted in the forearm (most likely via USG) where we can simultaneously take blood cultures. We would also consider an upgrade to midline or PICC, once the cultures and sensitivities are known, providing a better understanding of the actual duration of therapy and targeted antibiotic therapy.

We are evaluating the project, to see its impact on PIVC related morbidity. Based on the impact of MAGIC on adults, this is likely to be considerable (read here).

Another way to make sticking children with sharp needles less painful for everyone.

Want some top tips on paediatric cannulation? Watch our paediatric cannulation video on the DFTB YouTube channel here.

June 28, 2021 0

Croup

Community paediatrics / Emergency / General paediatrics / Infectious Diseases / Pre-Hospital / Respiratory
Cite this article as:
Laura Riddick. Croup, Don't Forget the Bubbles, 2021. Available at:
https://doi.org/10.31440/DFTB.32637

It’s 0200 hours in the Emergency Department and you hear a seal …

As children have returned to school we have seen more croup through the ED so it’s time to refresh your memories!

What is it?

Viral laryngotracheobronchitis. It is essentially inflammation around the main large breathing structures and caused usually by parainfluenza 1 + 3. Other respiratory viruses including SARS-CoV-2 and RSV may also be involved. This inflammation causes a tell-tale cough and noisy breathing due to the obstruction to flow. There may be signs of increased work of breathing too such as sub-costal recession or a tracheal tug. They are generally quite well and are running around the waiting room!

Who gets it?

A lot of children – roughly 2-3% of all children per year! These kids are usually between six months and four years of age, and occurs at the beginning of autumn, though this spring we are seeing a lot of cases. Children with croup may present with a preceding coryza-like illness and a low-grade fever. This then develops into a barking “seal-like” cough and, for some reason, always seems worse at night. Boys are more commonly affected than girls, and some children seem to get it yearly.

How do we treat it?

This depends on your assessment of the child. Croup is a self-limiting viral illness and treatment tends to look to short term reduction in the inflammation to improve the work of breathing. Historically clinicians have used Westley scoring system to score croup and assess their severity before giving medication.

Westley Croup scxore
Westley Croup Score

In children who look unwell, it is important to not upset them by avoiding unnecessary interventions such as excessive handling or performing an ENT exam.

Steroids

If the child is able to take the medication, dexamethasone or prednisolone should be given to all cases of croup where any stridor or increased effort in breathing is present.

Dexamethasone appears to be more efficacious than prednisolone. It has an onset of action within 1 hour (30 minutes – 4 hours) and has a half-life of up to 36-72 hours (Schimmer 2005). There has been debate overdosing with doses of 0.15mg/kg, 0.3mg/kg and 0.6mg/kg of dexamethasone. Ultimately, 0.15mg/kg not inferior to 0.6mg/kg. At the time of writing both NICE and the BNFc recommend 0.15mg/kg as the initial dose of dexamethasone. If there are concerns about re-occurrence patients are occasionally sent home with an additional dose to be taken 12 hours later.

Prednisolone tends to be favoured in the primary care setting, at a dose of 1mg/kg with two additional daily doses. There appears to be no significant clinical difference between the two different steroids in terms of the need for additional treatment or length of stay. Dexamethasone was associated with a reduction in re-attendances, which may be due to the shorter half-life of Prednisolone (Gates 2018, Schimmer 2005)

Nebulised budesonide (2mg stat dose) is reserved for children who cannot take the dose. This may be because it was spat ou tor because they are working too hard to breathe. A Cochrane review in 2018 shows that budesonide is not superior to dexamethasone, with Westley Croup scores better in the dexamethasone group at 6 and 12 hours compared to budesonide. A combination of treatment does not appear to lead to additional benefit (Gates 2018)

Adrenaline/epinephrine

In severe cases, when the child has features of severe work of breathing, including significant recession, hypoxia or tiring, nebulised adrenaline has been used (0.4-0.5ml/kg, maximum 5ml of 1:1000). Adrenaline provides short term relief from respiratory distress and can be a bridge to getting steroids on board. The effects are short-acting and wear off after a couple of hours. It can be repeated every 30 minutes, although if you need repeat doses, anaesthetics and senior colleagues should be involved in this patients’ care.

How do we not treat it?

In the olden days parents tried treating croup at home with steam inhalation (not effective). In hospitals, humidified oxygen has also been tried though this has not been proven to be effective either (Moore 2007). Heliox (oxygen and helium combined) has also been looked at as it may improve airflow. The evidence is limited and safety and efficacy remain questionable (More, 2018). There is no evidence that salbutamol works in croup.

They sound better, what’s next?

If they are well and the stridor has resolved, patients can be discharged home with safety-netting advice. The effects of dexamethasone should last as croup itself is usually limited to 2-3 days of symptoms. Parents need to be aware that some symptoms of respiratory distress can return, usually the following night.

Patients may require a prolonged period of observation if:

  • stridor is still present at rest, or there is increased work of breathing
  • the child is very young (<3 months)
  • an adrenaline nebuliser had to be given
  • there is a past history of severe croup
  • there is a history of upper airway problems (i.e. laryngomalacia or subglottic stenosis)
  • concerns about the child returning (i.e. long-distance, social concerns)

When is it not croup?

  • Epiglottitis – a rare condition thanks to the HiB vaccine. A child would present with sudden onset, fever, drooling and looks unwell holding the head back and neck extended. This is a medical emergency and keeping the patient calm is paramount.
  • Tracheitis– thankfully also rare. It presents with the child acutely unwell after a prolonged course similar to Croup.
  • Anaphylaxis/allergy – this may be accompanied with angioedema, rash and wheeze, and requires swift treatment with IM adrenaline
  • Quinsy/retropharyngeal abscess
  • Foreign body – Usually the history would help suggest this, with a sudden onset history in a well-child.

COVID and croup

Most children admitted into hospital are now swabbed for COVID. This can provide a challenge – balancing upsetting the child (and making the upper airway obstruction worse) and performing an invasive swab. It is sensible not to swab the child whilst there is still concern about acute stridor and work of breathing..

There have been some case studies to suggest a small cohort of patients with croup who were SARS-CoV-2 positive are less responsive to the usual treatment (Venn 2020). These cases may need prolonged admission due to lack of response and the need for additional supportive therapy.

Selected references

  1. Al-Mutairi B, Kirk V. Bacterial tracheitis in children: Approach to diagnosis and treatment. Paediatr Child Health. 2004;9(1):25-30. doi:10.1093/pch/9.1.25
  2. Garbutt JM, Conlon B, Sterkel R, et al. The comparative effectiveness of prednisolone and dexamethasone for children with croup: a community-based randomized trial.  Clin Pediatr (Phila). 2013;52(11):1014–1021.
  3. Gates  A, Gates  M, Vandermeer  B, Johnson  C, Hartling  L, Johnson  DW, Klassen  TP. Glucocorticoids for croup in children. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2018, Issue 8. Art. No.: CD001955. DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD001955.pub4. Accessed 28 April 2021
  4. Moore M, Little P. Humidified air inhalation for treating croup: a systematic review and meta-analysis.  Fam Pract. 2007;24(4):295–301
  5. Moraa I, Sturman N, McGuire TM, van Driel ML. Heliox for croup in children. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2018, Issue 10. Art. No.: CD006822. DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD006822.pub5
  6. Schimmer B P, Parker K L. Adrenocorticotropic hormone: adrenocortical steroids and their synthetic analogs: inhibitors of the synthesis and actions of adrenocortical hormones. Goodman and Gilman’s the pharmacological basis of therapeutics, 9th edition. New York: McGraw‐Hill, 20051459–1485
  7. Smith DK, McDermott AJ, Sullivan JF. Croup: Diagnosis and Management. Am Fam Physician. 2018 May 1;97(9):575-580. PMID: 29763253.
  8. Sparrow A, Geelhoed G. Prednisolone versus dexamethasone in croup: a randomised equivalence trial. Arch Dis Child. 2006;91(7):580-583. doi:10.1136/adc.2005.089516
  9. Venn AMR, Schmidt JM, Mullan PC. A case series of pediatric croup with COVID-19 [published online ahead of print, 2020 Sep 15]. Am J Emerg Med. 2020;S0735-6757(20)30829-9. doi:10.1016/j.ajem.2020.09.034
  10. https://www.rch.org.au/clinicalguide/guideline_index/Croup_Laryngotracheobronchitis/
  11. https://cks.nice.org.uk/topics/croup/
May 31, 2021 0

Communicating clearly

Communication / Emergency / General paediatrics / Pre-Hospital / prehospital
Cite this article as:
Liz Herrieven. Communicating clearly, Don't Forget the Bubbles, 2021. Available at:
https://doi.org/10.31440/DFTB.32916

The Joint Royal Colleges Ambulance Liaison Committee (JRCALC) produces guidance for ambulance services across the UK. I was thrilled to be asked to contribute to this in the form of a new chapter on patients with communication difficulties. This post expands on that guidance, which was written to support pre-hospital clinicians in providing the best possible care to their patients who face challenges with communication. This may be due to a wide variety of underlying conditions, including learning disability, autism, hearing loss, dementia and dysphasia.

Communication is vital to all that we do – from the first contact with a patient, through history taking and examination, to initiating treatment and explaining procedures. We have to do our very best to get it right. This is perhaps even more important, and more difficult, in the pre-hospital field, where stress levels are high, the environment can be unpredictable and time is short. Clinicians meeting patients for the first time need to quickly assess the situation and also win trust and gain understanding.

Communication is a two-way thing. It sounds obvious, but it becomes even more important when patients find communication difficult. Not only do we have to try our best to make ourselves understood, but we also have to try our best to understand our patient.

It’s also important to remember that communication and understanding are two very different things. Someone may be able to communicate quite well but understand very little. Conversely, someone may not be able to communicate but may have a very good understanding, including things being said about or around them. Dysphasic or dysarthric patients may appear to be unable to understand when actually their difficulty is in expressing themselves.

So, how can we improve our communication?

Minimise fear and anxiety

Communicating and understanding become more challenging when there is fear and anxiety. The first step is to keep calm and reassure the patient. The specific nature of any communication difficulty needs to be recognised quickly then addressed. Patients with a learning disability may not understand what is happening so careful explanations may help. Some autistic patients may have difficulty interpreting information verbally or non-verbally, or they may have significant sensory processing difficulties which means that loud noises, bright lights and physical touch can be distressing or even painful. Deaf patients may be able to better understand if they can see the clinician’s mouth – difficult with PPE.

Make simple adjustments

Communication might be made easier with simple changes such as speaking slowly and clearly and avoiding jargon. And give time – time for your patient to respond. For some patients, including those with Down syndrome, it can take several seconds to respond – time to receive the auditory information, decode it, understand it, formulate an answer and produce that answer as the right set of noises. We’re all busy so that seven or eight seconds can feel like an age. It’s absolutely worth the wait, though.

Adapt the environment

Can we do anything to make the environment less distracting, quieter, less stimulating? Would it be better to assess the patient in familiar surroundings rather than in the ambulance? Can noisy, scary or flashing equipment be switched off, removed or covered? If the patient has to be moved can they bring something, or someone, familiar with them?

Pay attention to non-verbal communication

Would eye contact help? It often does, but for some autistic patients it can be distressing. Some people respond well to a reassuring touch (I’m a toucher and a hugger) but others find it really uncomfortable – check before extending that hand! Do we need to support our verbal communication with gesture or sign? Pictures or symbols might help to explain what we are saying, but if we don’t have any to hand then pointing to body parts or pieces of equipment can help. We absolutely need to pay attention to our non-verbal communication, body language, posture, facial expression and so on, and also watch for non-verbal cues from our patient. Those who know our patient best might be able to help with this – how would their loved one usually let someone know they were in pain, for example? Pain is often poorly assessed and managed in people with a learning disability (LeDeR – the Learning Disability Mortality Review Programme). We often hear about people having a “high pain threshold” and whilst it’s true that pain is perceived differently by different people, we can’t assume that someone does not feel pain just because they can’t verbalise it.

Play to your patient’s communication strengths

Some patients may have particular strengths and weaknesses when it comes to communication. People with Down syndrome often find it more difficult to understand and remember auditory information, due to a variety of issues including fluctuating hearing impairment and poor short term auditory memory. They may, however, find it much easier to remember and understand information presented in a visual format. Using gesture, sign language (such as Makaton), photos or symbols (such as PECS) may support the verbal information and make things much easier for both the patient and the clinician.

Family and carers can help to identify how best to communicate with the patient but consider other resources too – is there a hospital passport that can give you some clues? These are often used to list medications and past medical history, but their real beauty is in detailing likes, dislikes, behaviours associated with pain, interventions that might be difficult to tolerate, and so on. A care pathway can also give great clinical information and guide management.

Adapt your examination

Your standard examination might need to be altered a little. Give clear warnings before touching the patient, particularly if they have any visual impairment or a sensory processing disorder. Start with those parts of the examination that are less intrusive – watching and observing position, demeanour, breathing pattern, and movements can all give a huge amount of information before you even get your stethoscope out. Distraction might be useful for some patients but for others, including those who may have had previous bad experiences, it might not work. Family and carers may know how best to support your patient through the more distressing parts of the examination and any following interventions.

LeDeR has also found that early warning scores were less likely to be calculated in people with a learning disability, and they were less likely to be acted on if abnormal. There are many likely reasons behind this, including clinicians being reluctant to cause distress to their patients. Things like blood pressure or oxygen saturation measurement can be very uncomfortable, particularly for those who may not understand what is being done or who may have sensory processing difficulties. Those patients still need to be assessed and treated appropriately. If a BP or sats, or any other part of your assessment for that matter, is likely to give important information then it should be done. There may, however, need to be some thought about how best to carry it out. Explanation, communication, visual information, distraction – what will help your patient tolerate the examination?

There is a common misconception that patients with chronic health problems always have an abnormal early warning score, so what’s the point? Any score, normal or abnormal, in a previously healthy patient or not, should be taken in context with the rest of the examination. It can be helpful to know what the patient is like (behaviour, level of alertness, comfort, interaction, early warning score) when well, to help to identify how ill they may be now. Again, family and carers can give vital information about this.

Be attuned to “soft signs”

“Soft signs” can help, too. These are things that family might notice long before health professionals. They are not specific to any particular illness or disease process, but give an indication that the patient isn’t well. For example, someone might be a little paler than usual, not want to get out of bed, not want to finish their favourite meal and not want to watch their favourite TV programme. A family member would know that these things mean their loved one is not themselves, and likely to be unwell. Healthcare professionals can learn a lot by listening out for soft signs.

Beware diagnostic overshadowing

It’s really important to watch out for diagnostic overshadowing. This happens when a patient has a pre-existing diagnosis, and any new symptoms are assumed to be down to this diagnosis. For example, an autistic person might present as being quite agitated, carrying out repetitive, stereotypical movements and it might be tempting for us to assume that this is all because they have autism. However, if we do that, we may miss the fact that they are in pain or feeling unwell. Again, we have to find out more about what our patient is like when they are well, to know how ill they may be now.

All of this boils down to making reasonable adjustments, which are required by law (Equality Act 2010). We can sum it up with the TEACH mnemonic:

Time: assessing someone with communication difficulties may take more time, but that time is absolutely worth it.

Environment: pick the best environment to assess your patient in. Keep things quiet and calm, remove distractions. Keep things familiar to the patient if you can, or let them have something familiar with them.

Assume: don’t assume anything about understanding – communication aids understanding, but someone who has difficulties with communication may still have very good understanding.

Communication: how can you best communicate with your patient? How can you help them make themselves understood? Would symbols or signs help? Pictures or gesture? Writing things down?

Help: what help does your patient need? What help do you need??

None of the interventions suggested are particularly tricky or difficult, but all have the potential to make a huge difference to our patients. For those working in UK ambulance services, the JRCALC guideline chapter will hopefully help as a prompt. For others, whether pre-hospital or not, I hope this blog helps a little.

https://www.jrcalc.org.uk

https://www.bristol.ac.uk/sps/leder/

May 26, 2021 1

Paediatric pieces for Prehospital practitioners

Emergency / Pre-Hospital
Cite this article as:
Jason van der Velde. Paediatric pieces for Prehospital practitioners, Don't Forget the Bubbles, 2021. Available at:
https://doi.org/10.31440/DFTB.32110

I’m one of those that see little humans as little humans and big humans as big humans and don’t buy into the whole angst that children are different. Some humans require small bits of kits and some require rather large bits of kit….

Now before I get hissed at by a sizable proportion of readers, may I place my views into context? This may go some way into keeping you engaged, and, perhaps, convincing you that an alternative approach to equipment management might indeed be applicable to your practice. I’m a rural Prehospital Emergency Medicine and Critical Care Retrieval Physician. I grew up in the ambulance and rescue services in South Africa and have been engaged in looking after humans of all shapes and sizes since 1992. I currently work in stunningly beautiful West Cork, which despite being on the edge of Europe, can feel like being in the Australian Outback when you’re 3 hours away from a hospital with a post-arrest neonate or an 8-year-old with polytrauma. The Trauma Centre I’m attached to in Cork City is exceptionally busy, with a mixed adult and paediatric caseload. Approximately a third of my personal workload is paediatrics; oh and I have 5 children under the age of 14.

COVID has brutally shone a spotlight on the CRM issues we face every day in acute care specialities;  particularly with regards to equipment and consumables management. Overnight we decluttered many of our cubicles, creating isolation spaces. Rooms that are devoid of anything that might possibly become “contaminated”. Rooms are just “rooms” and no longer “clinical environments”.  We’ve had to adapt and conscientiously think about what consumables we bring to the bedside. Whatever we don’t use will need to be thrown out and whatever we don’t bring in will result in a potentially adverse delay, whilst a runner goes to fetch it from a distant storeroom. Folks, the latter is nothing new to the high visibility brigade… Welcome to Prehospital Care in the hospital! 

I’ve recently gone through a major upheaval, totally rethinking my equipment lists and layout whilst bringing a new 258 brake horsepower 4×4 into service. I manage circa 500 patients every year in the field. Kit logistics is everything, given the distant storeroom is a hospital up to 3 hours away and Gardai (the Irish word for police) don’t like to be used as runners. I must confess that I’m pretty old fashioned with what I use, and I don’t like change. It’s probably because I’m used to carrying what I need on my back and started my career in a system that at the time had very little. 

I’ve been motivated by the wealth of novel kit management ideas that have evolved from COVID preparation freely shared by colleagues on Social Media. In my own department, we’ve adopted various “Packs” to bring into  “COVID Rooms” to both reduce waste and to re-create our “clinical environment”, albeit one patient at a time.  

Pre-packaged kits ready to grab and go

I was asked to write a prehospital post on “adapting kit for children” and to highlight how I “improvise for children”. Sorry to disappoint, I certainly don’t “adapt kit” for children and I certainly don’t “improvise” either. What I do is innovate, putting hours and hours of iterative design and experience into safe equipment governance regardless of the size, shape or dilemma a human might find themselves in. 

How often have you reached for the simple in-hospital ward transfer bag, only to realise you probably should have been making use of that gym membership, let alone the health and safety implications of a ridiculously heavy bag stuffed to the gunnels? When you carry everything on your back as part of your daily routine, you get very used to minimising not only packaging but bulk. We’ve effectively been doing this in prehospital care for years without really thinking about it. Modulising equipment by clinical task reinforces a minimalistic approach and dramatically reduces both waste and weight. My new iteration of equipment bags takes this into account whilst also the addition of tackling the COVID infection control dilemma. 

Equipment ergonomics is nothing new to paediatric practice. For example, having everything to hand in a logical order is the hallmark of successful phlebotomy in a squirming toddler. The MOST important thing to start with is to ask yourself what you need a kit bag to achieve? I have evolved the primary platform on a comfortable army Bergen, which is equipped to ONLY provide life and limb threatening care to a human from preterm to centenarian a few hours hike through a mountain trail. To achieve this takes an immense amount of preplanning. For me, this latest iteration has built on a prehospital career of over 25 years, with 12 years of Irish practice to adapt, and there’s still so much more to do. The hallmark of quality prehospital care is not cutting corners and not improvising. I have the exact same standard of equipment, monitoring and drugs that you would expect available in a trauma unit. Innovation comes through layout and the principle of packaging everything into procedure based modules.

Experience has proven that it’s counterproductive to have a little bag full of syringes and needles. You’ll either have too many or not enough. Think about each and every life-saving procedure, for example, a chest drain then break it down into individual component parts. Do you have everything you need? With just one flap open on my bag, I have everything I need to pre-oxygenate an infant. There’s an Ayres T-piece, HME, angle piece, and one of each size 1 to 3 facemask, plus a single 10ml syringe for letting air into or out of the facemask seal. I consider airway adjuncts to be a separate module. 

In prehospital care, you do not have the luxury of knowing the size of the next patient. In the picture of my opened airway module, you will note I’ve everything required to manage a human airway. Spot the vacuum sealed hand suction if you can! You may notice a lack of toys. Airway cameras fail in the cold and wet. I’ve not yet met one that’s West Cork proof. 

Working repeatedly in  “COVID positive” homes really wakes you up to the realities of how poor our infection control practices were. In the new system, each module is vacuum-sealed in a clean room, before going into the main bag. If a module is opened, everything, regardless of if it’s used or not, is either discarded or re-sterilized as appropriate. The outside packaging of an unused module is easily decontaminated with a simple wipe or UV light. The bag itself is washable. 

Kit unused in a bag that’s been touched repeatedly by contaminated gloves should never have been a thing in the first place. Think about it! When you’re sucked into the moment of treating a sick child, the last thing you appreciate is infection control. Solutions need to be human proof. We can’t simply just do what we’ve always done. I call it the RNLI test. If your kit and all its contents reliably can survive a winter trip to an Irish offshore island, lying exposed in the hull of an open rescue boat, you’ve achieved infection control packaging! This means EVERYTHING, down to the stethoscope and SpO2 monitor requires vacuum sealing. 

Another advantage of having everything vacuum sealed is that when you prepare your kit, you’re not rushed, and everything can be meticulously checked with a colleague, using a challenge-response checklist. When you open your kit in chaos, you can be confident that everything you need is there, laid out exactly the same way on a nice clean piece of plastic – and not a dirty floor. Disposing excess packaging reduces clutter around the patient. Whilst there is a cost associated with setting up such a system, there are savings too. You don’t end up throwing as much away. By using a checklist , you also have the ability to record the expiry date of a piece of kit on the outside of the module.  You can either opt for having a store room with all the various modules vacuum sealed on a shelf to simply replace, or like me, you have a number of fully stocked bags always ready to go. I chose the latter, with three identical bergens allowing me the “luxury” of being able to offer one bag per polytrauma patient at a rural Road Traffic Collision.

Monitoring has always been a bulky problem. The solution has come about out of a novel community defibrillation project we initiated in West Cork. We wanted to equip every single off-duty member of the ambulance service with a patient monitor and defibrillator in the back of their private vehicle. With these professionals on a text alert system, we are able to go a long way to achieving a 10min response time in rural life or limb-threatening calls. Even the cheapest patient monitor, that conforms to the standards, costs €20k. By modularising everything into a sturdy waterproof case, ie purchasing SpO2, 12 lead ECG, defibrillator, BP cuff individually, we produced the same monitoring and defibrillation standard, in a far more rugged pack for a quarter of the price. 

Moving forward, my single kit bag now includes all the monitoring and drugs required for an RSI or cardiac arrest, including waveform capnography and ECG! These are not new technologies, but smaller, cheaper items such as EMMA Capnography and Bluetooth-to-iOS ECG devices. I no longer have the heavy monitor or hands so full of equipment that I can’t safely climb a flight of stairs, let alone reach a child trapped in a mindboggling place! It helps create that clinical environment in a non-clinical area. If further “next step” critical care retrieval paraphernalia is required, such as a ventilator, blood warmer or syringe driver,  this can be brought out from the car. 

But why on earth would all this be relevant to a paediatrician or paediatric nurse in an average hospital who may or may not ever have to retrieve or transport a sick child anywhere further than radiology? 

“Around the corner, around the world” is a philosophy that defines risk in retrieval medicine. It’s not distance, but the very act of transferring a patient from one place to another that carries the risk. Most people are worried about a cardiac arrest en route. What will you do today if that cardiac arrest was caused by an infusion line, chest drain or endotracheal tube dislodging in transit in that unfamiliar, non-clinical space? The riskiest time is just transferring a patient across the bed to the trolley, radiology table or theatre table. After that, my least favourite place to be is an elevator or crowded corridor. Ask yourself the most basic and simple safety question… Is the equipment bag that accompanies me fit for purpose to provide critical care support to this little patient in an elevator? 

March 15, 2021 1

A journey to remember

Communication / Pre-Hospital
Cite this article as:
Viv Forde and Owen Keane. A journey to remember, Don't Forget the Bubbles, 2021. Available at:
https://doi.org/10.31440/DFTB.32101

Imagine yourself on a stretcher rolling away from your home, out of your driveway. BUMP onto a ramp, then pushed from the ramp into the back of an ambulance. Hear the sound of the stretcher being locked in place, and all you can see is the white ceiling and bright lights. BANG! The door slams after you. You look around and see machines you do not recognise with no understanding as to what they do. They look scary, some of them BEEP, and you are sick and in pain. For any adult, this is daunting.

Now imagine that you are a 5-year-old child. What would be going through your mind?

The back of an ambulance must be one of the scariest environments a child could encounter. As prehospital practitioners, assessing and treating children in this environment is a huge challenge. Seeing a distressed child, sick and in pain, is daunting. Trying to treat their ailments and instil some calm, even more so. How do we do this? How can we do it well…. or better? What is available to us to make this easier and how can we improvise to improve the patient experience for the ones we want to mind the most?

The Bumbleance

In Ireland, we have an amazing dedicated paediatric transfer ambulance service, designed inside and out with nothing but kids in mind. The Bumbleance Children’s National Ambulance Service operates vehicles equipped with social media streaming, wi-fi, PlayStation, DVDs, games, books, colouring, sensory lighting, Netflix, iPad Air, Beats headphones, Apple TV and Apple Music…providing endless entertainment for the kids that require transfer and minimising the potential impact of clinical care on their journey. While these phenomenal assets are used for scheduled trips and appointments, these features are not in the frontline Emergency Ambulances.

Without reliable access to fun electronic gadgets and gizmos, Emergency pre-hospital practitioners rely more on the fundamentals of paediatric care to maximise their comfort during the call and transfer – getting down to their level to communicate, utilising effective distraction techniques, optimising pain management and using appropriate positioning (with the help of Mum and Dad) are always good places to start.

How about…

Glove Puppets

Straight from the “International Paramedic Practice of Improvisation”! Some creative practitioners have been known to use ECG dots as eyes. Simple and easy and the kids seem to love them. Plenty of evidence out there to support it too.

Bubbles

“Don’t forget” these! We are excellent at ensuring we have our clinical stock checked for each and every shift, but should we have paediatric play / distraction gear checked too? Some astute crews keep bottles of bubbles in their kit bags for the distressed paediatric patients they encounter. Deescalating an upset child, while gaining trust and instilling a fun memory, can add in no small way to positive case outcomes. Importantly, play stimulates and assesses the patient’s level of interaction – what is their level of alertness and are their reacting normally? Now they want to play – excellent, they are obeying commands and blow bubbles just like you do too!

Smartphones

Many practitioners use their devices to pacify patients during the initial assessment, treatments, and transferring onwards to the ED. Having a spare charger for your shift is a good idea. Be up to speed on the latest hit shows, know some characters by name and description, and expect serious brownie points for being able to mimic the voice of their favourite character!

A Bear called Teddy

Another paediatric kit bag essential? An excellent source of comfort and reward for bravery. Where possible and appropriate, be sure to show them how to check Teddy’s oxygen saturations, auscultate his chest, and check his blood sugar level… desensitisation to the experience of clinical assessment, while reducing anticipatory anxiety, can allow you to examine your paediatric patient more thoroughly and pick up subtle objective signs.

Blood Sugars

It might be an idea that whoever is driving on the day are the one to carry out the fingerprick glucose test. This way the child doesn’t have to be in their company immediately afterwards and so it is usually forgotten about by the time they arrive in the ED. Novelty cartoon or superhero plasters will be the most welcome addition to any paediatric kit bag.

Openness and honesty are key in assessing and managing a child. Communication breakdowns lead to loss of trust and a worsening of pain and distress during the prehospital phase of care. Be clear about what you would like to do and what this will involve. This will make them feel better once it’s over. Expect trust to evaporate if you tell them a painful procedure won’t hurt. Use any teddy or toy props available to demonstrate if you can and demystify the process by involving the patient.  Lever off parents as and guide them, when needed, to improve your chances of completing a vital clinical task.

Of course, parental anxiety will increase a child’s anxiety. While having them accompany their child in the ambulance is a legal requirement, treating the parent is just as important as treating the paediatric patient themselves. This might be their first time dialling 999/000, their first sick or injured child, or their first time encountering prehospital services. Be conscious that separation may cause great anxiety, keep them in the eyesight of the patient as much as possible. Encourage the carer to keep talking, telling stories, or singing songs. Providing the best possible care is depends on providing adequate emotional support for an unwell child. These core principles are particularly important to remember in cases involving serious paediatric traumatic injury. Minimising distress can have a huge impact on post-event emotional recovery.

While we are very lucky in Ireland to have an impressive number of medications available to both paramedics and advanced paramedics, non-pharmacological means of providing analgesia to patients should not be underestimated. Managing the prehospital phase of care in a safe, fun, and efficient manner will undoubtedly improve the chances of the journey to the ED, and beyond, going much more smoothly.

Pre-hospital paediatric challenges during COVID-19

Managing unwell or injured children in the prehospital environment was plenty challenging before the COVID-19 pandemic.  Adding PPE into the mix has represented a significant challenge to all healthcare providers and prompted reflection on communication and distraction techniques alike.  The introduction of a facemask, goggles, gown and gloves as contact precautions, has made many adult patients feel uncomfortable. This new work outfit doesn’t lend itself to creating less distress amongst kids either. PPE greatly restricts our ability to communicate with children, removing our core non-verbal expressions, that friendly smile or silly excited face, that we relied on so much before.

How can we tackle this as prehospital practitioners to ease the anxiety that our PPE may cause? Maybe the following points could help in mitigating this problem:

Say it like you mean it

We need to rely and focus more on how we speak to the child by keeping our voice friendly and using our tone, pitch and intonation more to convey excitement. How your message is heard might be different when wearing goggles vs visor so do test this out on a colleague and get feedback when trying out different PPE.

Smile with your eyes

Again, practice makes perfect! This can be difficult if your eye protection keeps fogging but being aware of it will help you anticipate and adjust your strategy as needed.

Show yourself at your best

Perhaps having a printout of a picture pinned to your PPE might help. At least the child will know what you really look like. A mini collection of silly faces would be ideal of course.

It is still Halloween, right?!

Costume wear is now a year-round thing, apparently. This has gotten a few laughs and a few eyerolls too for good measure. Any form of icebreaker that works is a good one!

Cartoon Visors

Creating memories while providing care. Some paediatric departments have sourced visors with cartoon characters and animals on them. Others have taken to showing off their creative side! It has shown to comfort the children and promoted good interactions whilst the healthcare workers go about their job assessing and treating their patient. Prizes should be encouraged for champion efforts!

Creating magical memories while providing excellent prehospital care is achievable with good preparation and acknowledgement of the unique elements involved in transporting the distressed, sick, or injured child.

The journey really does make the destination!

References

Oulasvirta J, Pirneskoski J, Harve-Rytsala H, Laaperi M, Kuitunen M, Kuisma M, et al. Paediatric prehospital emergencies and restrictions during the Covid-19 pandemic: a population-based study. BMJ Paediatrics Open. 2020;4:1-8.

Cowley A, Durge N. The impact of parental accompaniment in paediatric trauma: a helicopter emergency medical service (HEMS) perspective. Scand J Trauma Resusc Emerg Med. 2014;22:32.

Samuel MD N, Steiner IP, Shavit MD I. Prehospital pain management of injured children: a systemic review of current evidence. American Journal of Emergency Medicine. 2014.

Jones J. Analgesia for Acute Care. Children’s Hospital Ireland; 2019. p. 5.

StatPearls. 2020. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32119430

Cartoon visors cheer young patients hse.ie2020 [Available from: https://www.hse.ie/eng/about/our-health-service/making-it-better/cartoon-visors-cheer-young-patients.html.

Bumbleance – The Children’s National Ambulance Service 2020 [Available from: https://www.bumbleance.com/?doing_wp_cron=1611411187.1207330226898193359375.

Fogarty E, Dunning E, Koe S, et al. The ‘Jedward’ versus the ‘Mohawk’: a prospective study on a paediatric distraction technique. Emergency Medicine Journal 2014;31:327-328.

March 12, 2021 0

Predicting paediatric traumatic brain injuries

Emergency / Pre-Hospital / Trauma
Cite this article as:
Dani Hall and Mieke Foster. Predicting paediatric traumatic brain injuries, Don't Forget the Bubbles, 2021. Available at:
https://doi.org/10.31440/DFTB.30993

The biggest challenge in managing a child with a mild to moderate head injury is deciding whether to organise a CT scan or not. Balancing the risk of ionising radiation (and with it the small, but definite, risk of a future brain tumour or leukaemia) against the risk of missing a significant brain injury is mitigated to some extent by using a clinical decision rule, like the PECARN, CATCH or CHALICE rules. These rules are extremely sensitive with very few false negatives and excellent negative prediction values, meaning if you follow them, you’re unlikely to miss a clinically important brain injury (cTBI). Their problem is their specificity is low with plenty of false positives, meaning most of the children who have a scan won’t actually have a brain injury. (If you’d like a refresher on sensitivity, specificity, NPV and PPV in head injury decision rules, check out Damian’s critical appraisal talks in DFTB Essentials.)

Over the last 6 years, Australasia’s PREDICT network has been a publishing powerhouse on paediatric head injuries from their Australasian Paediatric Head Injury Research Study (APHIRST for short). In their cohort of 20,000 children the team have been able to tell us that of PECARN, CATCH and CHALICE, the PECARN rule has the highest sensitivity. They’ve also shown that planned observation leads to significantly lower CT rates, with no difference in missed cTBI. And probably most telling of all, they’ve told us  that, without using any rules, their clinicians are already very good at identifying children with a cTBI with a sensitivity almost as high as PECARN’s, but with a very low baseline CT rate.

Nonetheless, clinical decision rules do play their role. And so, when they asked their network what an ideal decision rule would tell them, their clinicians highlighted the gaps in the existing guidelines: What should we do with a child with a delayed presentation up to 72 hours after the head injury? What about a child with a bleeding disorder and a head injury? What about a child with a VP shunt and a head injury? Or an intoxicated child with a head injury? The list goes on.

And so, in true PREDICT style, they decided to develop their own guideline.

This week marks a landmark day for paediatric head injury management worldwide as PREDICT launch their guideline for mild to moderate head injuries in children. The risk criteria from the PECARN rule, the best performing prediction rule in the APHIRST study, play a central role, supported by an extensive literature search, including studies from PECARN and PREDICT on the risk associated with VP shunts and bleeding risks. PREDICT have pulled all the data into one comprehensive, evidence-based guideline for managing, what has previously been considered, some of the less clear-cut paediatric head injury presentations. Let’s explore the algorithm and run through a series of cases.

Babl FE, Tavender E, Dalziel S. On behalf of the Guideline Working Group for the Paediatric Research in Emergency Departments International Collaborative (PREDICT). Australian and New Zealand Guideline for Mild to Moderate Head injuries in Children – Algorithm (2021). PREDICT, Melbourne, Australia.

How was the guideline derived?

Building on the existing high-quality clinical decision rules, the PREDICT group conducted a systematic review of the literature to include more recently published evidence. To develop the new PREDICT guideline, they used a GRADE-ADOLOPMENT approach, adopting, adapting or developing new recommendations, which are labelled in the main guideline as ‘evidence-informed recommendations’, ‘consensus-based recommendations’ or ‘practice points’.

What does it say?

This guideline is here to tell us what to do with children with a mild or moderate head injury, with a GCS of 14 or 15, or a child with a GCS ≤ 13 with a normal CT scan. The ‘who to discharge, who to observe and who to scan’ part of the guideline is succinctly summarised with a two-page algorithm. Page 1 has an easy to follow flowchart, supplemented by footnotes and Appendix with modified guidance for special conditions on page 2.

Page 1
Page 2

The bottom line

What I like so much about this guideline is that it answers so many of our “what about the child with a head injury plus…?” questions. With the evidence-based recognition that senior clinicians who choose to observe rather than scan a child reduce the CT rate without increasing the number of missed cTBIs, this guideline also allows senior clinicians to make a risk assessment on a case by case basis, while remaining fluid enough to upgrade or downgrade a child’s risk if their clinical picture changes. Although designed for use in Australia and New Zealand, I can see it being immensely useful outside Australasia and am looking forward to putting its pearls of wisdom to use.

Case 1

Case 2

Case 3

Case 4

Case 5

Cases 6 and 7

Case 8

Cases 9 and 10

Case 11

Case 12

Case 13

Case 14

Case 15

References

 Babl FE, Tavender E, Dalziel S. On behalf of the Guideline Working Group for the Paediatric Research in Emergency Departments International Collaborative (PREDICT). Australian and New Zealand Guideline for Mild to Moderate Head injuries in Children – Algorithm (2020). PREDICT, Melbourne, Australia.

Babl FE et al. Accuracy of PECARN, CATCH, and CHALICE head injury decision rules in children: a prospective cohort study. 2017. 389;10087:2393-2402. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(17)30555-X

Babl FE et al. A prospective observational study to assess the diagnostic accuracy of clinical decision rules for children presenting to emergency departments after head injuries (protocol): the Australasian Paediatric Head Injury Rules Study (APHIRST). BMC Pediatr. 2014. 13;14:148. DOI: 10.1186/1471-2431-14-148

Singh S et al. The Effect of Patient Observation on Cranial Computed Tomography Rates in Children With Minor Head Trauma. Acad Emerg Med. 2020. 27:832–843. DOI: 10.1111/acem.13942

Borland M et al. Delayed Presentations to Emergency Departments of Children With Head Injury: A PREDICT Study. Ann Emerg Med. 2019. 74:1-10. DOI: 10.1016/j.annemergmed.2018.11.035

February 3, 2021 4

Chest compressions in traumatic cardiac arrest

Emergency / Pre-Hospital / prehospital / Trauma
Cite this article as:
Karl Kavanagh and Nuala Quinn. Chest compressions in traumatic cardiac arrest, Don't Forget the Bubbles, 2021. Available at:
https://doi.org/10.31440/DFTB.31093

Traumatic cardiac arrest (TCA) is an infrequent event in paediatrics, and a cause of significant stress in the busy trauma resuscitation room. Outcomes are similar in both paediatric and adult arrests, with poor survival rates in both. There are now international guidelines on the management of traumatic cardiac arrest. A traumatic cardiac arrest (TCA) is traumatic not just for patients but also for staff and all those involved. The guidelines were published in 2016, however, the role of chest compressions is still a source of confusion for medical and nursing staff alike. Advanced Paediatric Life Support algorithms and supporting medical evidence have correctly engrained chest compressions into medical management of life threats. However, there is a paucity of studies examining trauma-induced hypovolaemic arrests to base the decision to change the “normal practice”. It is counter-intuitive for medical staff to not start compressions when an arrest is presented to you and withholding them inevitably leads to the question “Well, what can I do then?”.

Haemorrhage is one of the three common causes of early preventable death in trauma. This paper, from Sarah Watts et al, sought to determine whether compressions are beneficial and with what fluid the patient should be resuscitated with (if at all). Of course there are ethical and practical issues with a prospective randomised control study involving children as the subjects. Instead, this animal study is a helpful surrogate for analysis of the question surrounding the role of chest compressions in haemorrhage-induced traumatic cardiac arrest.

Disclaimer: not suitable for vegetarians!

Watts S, Smith JE, Gwyther R and Kirkman E. Closed chest compressions reduce survival in an animal model of haemorrhage-induced traumatic cardiac arrest. Resuscitation. 2019; 140:37-42. Doi: 10.1016/j.resuscitation.2019.04.048

PICO image

Population

39 pigs were enrolled and treated as per UK Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 ethics standards. The baseline data of all animals involved were within normal ranges and differences between them was not clinically significant. Each subjects’ vital signs were invasively monitored throughout the study.

Intervention

There were 5 phases through which all participants/subjects went.

  • Injury phase
  • Shock phase
  • TCA phase
  • Resuscitation phase
  • Post-resuscitation phase

Each subject was anaesthetised and the same injury was reproduced in each. Subjects were allowed to exsanguinate in a controlled pattern. Once terminal hypovolaemia was declared, three rounds of resuscitation were commenced. After resuscitation, subjects were categorised according to MAP and Study End was defined as 15 minutes after the end of the third resuscitation cycle.

Patients were blindly randomised into 5 different groups:

  1. Closed chest compressions(CCC)
  2. Whole blood (WB)
  3. 0.9% Saline (NaCl)
  4. WB+ CCC
  5. NaCl+ CCC

Outcome

The primary outcome was achievement of ROSC at study end.

Secondary outcomes were differences in survival and attainment and maintenance of ROSC during the resuscitation and post-resuscitation phases.

Results

To summarise the numerous results:

  1. All the subjects in compressions only group died.
  2. All the subjects that received whole blood only survived.
  3. Resuscitation with blood had improved outcomes over normal saline.
  4. Addition of compressions had a detrimental effect on fluid resuscitation.
  5. Subjects that received any combination of CCC showed a more significant metabolic acidosis, reflecting increased tissue ischaemia.
  6. In the group that received both CCC and WB, 5 of 8 subjects achieved partial ROSC (MAP 20-50mmHg). Once partial ROSC was ascertained, CCC’s ceased and fluid resuscitation alone was continued. This led to the subjects improving to such a degree that there was no longer a difference between this group and that resuscitated by WB alone from the beginning.
  7. All results can be attributed to the groups’ interventions as confounding variables were minimised and the initial injury reproduced in each case.

Discussion

While this is a small population study, it has become a sentinel paper as it demonstrates clear evidence that chest compressions in a TCA are detrimental and that our reflexive management of medical arrests is not transferable. We need to shift our focus to optimising fluid resuscitation. It shows a clinically relevant outcome that is internationally applicable. It is important to note that it was terminal hypovolaemia, not true cardiac arrest with no output, which was being measured. However terminal hypovolaemia is an imminent precursor of cardiac arrest.

Reflections from Nuala Quinn

I have listened to Dr Sarah Watts present this paper and listening to her reinforced my opinion that this paper is superb. It challenges the dogma and forces us to push beyond traditional management strategies in what is arguably the most stressful paediatric emergency: major trauma.

Closed chest compressions are a mainstay of medical management. They are firmly embedded in resuscitation culture and indeed have become a mainstay of civilian culture. When healthcare practitioners hear the word “arrest” they automatically move into the “chest compressions” mindset. However medical cardiac arrest and traumatic cardiac arrest are two completely different entities with ensuing separate management. Anecdotally it is difficult to separate the two and advising a team that no-one needs to do chest compressions in an arrest causes anxiety and confusion. This happened only recently in our department where advising one of our staff that we didn’t need to do chest compressions as a priority was met with “but it says in APLS so we need to do them”. 

So how do we get around this? In my mind we do this in two ways: 

Firstly, we use and promote the life-saving bundle of interventions for TCA and keep it as a completely separate entity. When leading a TCA, as the pre-brief I will usually start with “This is a Traumatic Cardiac Arrest which will need the bundle of life-saving interventions before anything else”. I write the bundle of life-saving interventions on the adjacent whiteboard and assign specific people to them. I focus on the bundle, rather than ABCDE. Focusing the team on the bundle, rather than the “arrest” per se, helps to separate the medical arrest from the traumatic arrest. 

Nuala's priorities for traumatic cardiac arrests
Team priorities in a traumatic cardiac arrest

I follow the PERUKI guideline which can be found here. The bundle needs to be prioritised over chest compressions and defibrillation. For revision, here is the bundle:

Secondly, we use the evidence and this is where papers like Watts et al come in. Evidence is fluid, it changes all the time. It takes years for resuscitation courses and bodies to update manuals and so it is our responsibility to use emerging evidence and use it sensibly and progressively. Watts’ paper helps me to educate and challenge dogma, particularly with compressions and saline resuscitation. Again, anecdotally the practice of giving saline as the initial resuscitation fluid in trauma exists.  We seem to be hesitant to give blood immediately, with view that to try with saline first is better, to not waste blood. The literature is now abound with papers describing the deleterious effects of saline in trauma, particularly with regard to its dilutional effects and role in worsening trauma coagulopathy. Again, this paper supports the choice of whole blood over saline and is in keeping with the life-saving bundle.  This paper cements for me, the reasons for the importance of the life-saving bundle before anything else and should empower us to make better decisions in the trauma reception and resuscitation:

“Should we just give a saline bolus first?“

“Should we just get someone to do chest compressions as they have no pulse?”

The answer here should always be no, and this paper is evidence to support that. The TCA algorithms are almost exactly the same, between adults and paediatrics and in institutions all over the world. This has really helped to standardize the management of TCA and have people trust the bundle, rather than revert back to what feels safe for them (compressions and saline in most instances). 

As to our case above, I wasn’t team-leading and with 10min to the patient’s arrival, didn’t want to push the issue, so the plan for compressions went ahead and the role was assigned. However, at the end of the trauma resuscitation, I realised that the chest compressions hadn’t actually been performed. So in that clinician’s subconscious, there was an understanding and mutual trust in the process of changing and progressing how we better manage traumatic cardiac arrest. Watts and PERUKI are leading the way. It is up to us to follow them.

Selected references

Watts S, Smith JE, Gwyther R and Kirkman E. Closed chest compressions reduce survival in an animal model of haemorrhage-induced traumatic cardiac arrest. Resuscitation. 2019; 140:37-42. Doi: 10.1016/j.resuscitation.2019.04.048

Rickard AC, Vassallo J, Nutbeam T, Lyttle MD, Maconochie IK, Enki DG, et al. Paediatric traumatic cardiac arrest: a Delphi study to establish consensus on definition and management. Emerg Med J. 2018;35(7):434-9.

Vassallo J, Nutbeam T, Rickard AC, Lyttle MD, Scholefield B, Maconochie IK, et al. Paediatric traumatic cardiac arrest: the development of an algorithm to guide recognition, management and decisions to terminate resuscitation. Emerg Med J. 2018;35(11):669-74.

(ANZCOR) AaNZCoR. Australian Resuscitation Council Guidelines 2016 [Available from: https://resus.org.au/guidelines/.]

January 11, 2021 5

Intraosseous access

Emergency / Pre-Hospital / prehospital / Trauma
Cite this article as:
Gavin Hoey and Owen Keane. Intraosseous access, Don't Forget the Bubbles, 2020. Available at:
https://doi.org/10.31440/DFTB.31005

It is 15.50 hrs on a Tuesday when the call comes in. A 3-year-old female is in cardiac arrest.

When it is an adult patient, we can manage this without even breaking stride…but as you begin to formulate your action plan, your brain now needs to focus on areas that you don’t tend to dwell on when it comes to a grown-up patient – How will I gain access? What are my medication doses? What are those novel airway features again? While we are more confident and experienced managing adult patients in cardiac arrest, it is important to remember that – “Familiarity Breeds Contempt” – and this is different.

We are weaving in and out of rush hour traffic while deriving our WETFAG when we get updated information that an FBAO* may have led to this arrest.

*EM/prehospital speak for foreign body airway obstruction

My colleague and I discuss a plan of action:  we allocate roles, make a difficult airway plan, and agree to ensure that exceptional high-quality Basic Life Support is delivered in the first instance. We know that fundamentals matter most.

We discuss access options:

  • Intravenous (IV) – but will it be possible?
  • Intraosseous (IO) – we know that this is both possible and effective.

On arrival we find a 3-year-old old girl lying in a playroom. She is being tended to by a crew of firefighter-paramedics who have arrived just ahead of us.

I can see she is unresponsive but breathing. Her breathing does not look normal. She looks very unwell.

I get a handover from those on scene while Simon gets straight to work with airway assessment.

We voice our plan to the team:

  • Team role allocation reaffirmed.
  • Assess and manage the airway.
  • Assess and assist breathing.
  • Get access.
  • Complete a rapid A-E assessment to ensure we are not missing vital information.
  • Maximise team dynamics, performance, and optimise management of scene environment.

The decision to proceed with vascular access in paediatric patients is not an easy (or common) one to make for pre-hospital practitioners. Knowing that this patient was “Big Sick” makes the decision somewhat easier, but not so the challenge.  

When to IO?

Intraosseous (IO) is a rapid and effective method for accessing non-collapsible marrow veins without sacrificing pharmacokinetics.

Any delay in establishing vascular access can be potentially life threatening.

The Royal Children’s Hospital Melbourne states “In decompensated shock IO access should be established if IV failed or is going to be longer than 90 seconds”.

The decision to gain IO access should be considered in the following scenarios

Selecting the site

How do we choose a site for placing an IO line and what can influence our decision?

Is the case medical or trauma? If it is a trauma, where are the injuries? Fractures at, or above, the insertion site can compromise the integrity of the underlying anatomic structures. Importantly, what sites are practical and accessible to me in this case right now?

Having never attempted IO access on a paediatric patient before, I stuck with what I had done most frequently in training and decided on “proximal tibia” as my site for IO insertion.

“In the pre-hospital environment, it is sometimes as important to know when not to do something as it is to know when to do something”

Justification for tibial IO access in this not-arrested patient was based on the following case elements for me:

  • IV access had failed.
  • I had a small child, obtunded and unresponsive, requiring airway and breathing support, tachycardic, tachypnoeic, and hypoxic. Big Sick.
  • Activities “up top” were busy, very busy – although the airway did not appear to have a FBAO, it did require my colleague to maintain a good seal. I did not feel positioning for humeral IO was viable at this moment.
  • This was a medical case with no apparent lower limb or pelvic trauma.

Of course, one must always consider contraindications before proceeding with IO access.

Contraindications

  • Fractures at (or above) the insertion site
  • Crush Injuries
  • Ipsilateral vascular injury
  • Illness or anomalies to the underlying bone e.g. osteomyelitis, osteogenesis imperfecta, osteoporosis.
  • Previous failed IO attempts at this location
  • Overlying skin infection
  • Pain associated with infusion may be considered a reason not to continue using the line if it cannot be controlled.

Landmarks

I considered all potential options for IO insertion before choosing the site most familiar to me– proximal tibia. Other possible sites included:

  • Distal tibia
  • Distal femur
  • Humeral head
Intraosseous insertion sites

Anatomical landmarks for the insertion site depend on whether you can palpate the tibial tuberosity or not. The tibial tuberosity does not develop until around 2 years of age. If you cannot feel the tibial tuberosity in the smaller child, palpate two fingerbreadths down from the inferior border of the patella, then one finger breath medial to this point. Where the tuberosity is palpable, just go one fingerbreadth medial to it.

Target flat bone and pinch the tibia (especially in the very young patient) to reduce bone mobility, and to prevent the skin rotating with the driver before starting needle insertion.

Surface anatomy for insertion around knee
Landmarks for proximal tibial insertion

This is a small child. While it might seem like there is no time to hesitate; training, planning, awareness, and observation are vital I recalled the phrase “Power and Pressure”. This was not going to require as much force as I usually use in adult IO insertion. “Let the driver do the work” and be careful not to overshoot through the bone.

Placing the needle over the landmark site at 90 degrees, I visualised the line I wanted to drill. After careful, but firm, passing of the needle through the skin, I pressed the trigger. After the first pop, I was careful not to overshoot. Anticipation here is key so avoid putting too much pressure on the driver. Similarly, be careful to avoid excessive recoil when you feel you have reached the medullary space as this can result in dislodgement of the needle.

But am I in the right space?

Attempt to aspirate marrow from your line (though it might not always be present). Flushing saline through with little to no resistance is very reassuring. No Flush = No Flow!

The line needs to be secured in place and the extension tubing attached properly with no identifiable leak points. What we give through the line should generate a physiological response – if it does not, always consider if the line has become displaced.

The proximal tibial site may not always be an option, so we where else can we go?

Medial view of ankle
Landmarks for distal tibial insertion

Distal Tibia

Place one finger directly over the medial malleolus; move approximately 3 cm or 2 fingerbreadths proximal and palpate the anterior and posterior borders of the tibia to assure that your insertion site is on the flat center aspect of the bone. 

Distal femur surface anatomy
Landmarks for distal femoral site of insertion

Distal Femur

Midline, 2-3 cm above the external condyle or two fingerbreadths above the superior border of the patella. This is often an accessible site due to children having less muscle bulk. To ensure you avoid the growth plate, the leg should be outstretched when performing your landmarking’s above and aim about 15 degrees cephalad too.

Landmarks of the humeral head for IO insertion
Landmarks for insertion in the proximal humerus

Humeral Head:

The humeral head represents an excellent access point for large proximal vasculature (lies closer to the heart). Flow rates may be higher here too due to lower intramedullary pressures. The greater tuberosity secondary ossification centre doesn’t appear until about 5 years of age making palpation of this landmark more of a challenge in the younger child.  For this reason, it is more often used in older children, typically over 7 years of age or only in those in whom the anatomy can be readily identified.

You may need to consider using a longer needle here due to the larger amount of soft tissue over this axillary area.

The insertion site is located directly on the most prominent aspect of the greater tubercle. 1 cm above the surgical neck. The surgical neck is where the bone juts out slightly – you will find this by running a thumb up the anterior aspect of the humerus until you feel a prominence. This is the greater tuberosity. The insertion site is approximately 1cm above this.

It is important to position the arm correctly.

hand on belly or thumb to bum position for humeral IO
Positioning the arm for humeral IO

Humeral IO placement techniques:

  • Thumb to Bum – Move the patient’s hand (on the targeted arm) so that the patient’s thumb and dorsal aspect of hand rest against the hip (“thumb-to-bum”).
  • Palm to umbilicus – Move the patient’s hand (on the targeted arm) so that the palm rests over the umbilicus, while still maintaining the elbow close to the body.

Site versus flow

As mentioned above, the proximal humerus is very close to the heart and this, coupled with seemingly lower intramedullary pressures, lends itself to higher flow rates when compared to the lower limb sites.

Important to note, however, that any abduction or external rotation of the arm during resuscitative efforts (easy to picture this happening when moving your patient from scene to ambulance!) can lead to dislodgment of you IO. Nice and easy does it.

An awake IO?

The sound of the driver buzzing brings back dentist chair memories for all of us. No less so for your patient who, if conscious during the insertion, will be particularly anxious and upset. Anticipate this and control anxiety with reassurance, distraction, and parental explanation if you can.

Pain in the conscious patient with an IO in situ can be from the area around the insertion site as well as the volume expansion caused by infusion. A small volume of 2% lidocaine can be given through the line prior to commencing the infusion to help with pain – this is slowly infused over 120 seconds, left for 60 seconds, then flushed with 2-5ml of saline.

Always consider line dislodgment or compartment syndrome with gross discomfort and inspect/flush the line to ensure it is still functioning adequately.

Size of IO – credit to Tim Horeczko

What about the gear itself?

The EZ-IO 10 driver and needle Set is a semi-automatic intraosseous placement device commonly found in our EDs. All needle catheters are 15 gauge giving gravity flow rates of approximately 60-100ml/min. The use of pressure bags can greatly increase these rates. It is important to make sure you pre-flush the connector set to ensure no residual air can be injected after attachment.

“Fail to Prepare, Prepare to Fail”. Practice really makes perfect and so frequent familiarisation sessions are encouraged to get used to both the IO equipment and identifying the various access sites and their relevant anatomy.

A recent study by Mori et al (2020) showed a high rate of successful placement at 92.7%. This paper also described the complications encountered with the use of EZ-IO in a paediatric population in a paediatric ED. The complication rate seems to be consistent across all needle sizes at around 21%. Complications (particularly the more commonly occurring extravasation and skin) are important considerations for PEM IO training programmes.

Potential complications

  • Extravasation or subperiosteal infusion – the highest reported complication in the Mori paper was 17% of all IO insertions. This occurs if you fail to enter the bone marrow or happen to go through the entire bone itself and overshoot the medullary canal. Dislodgement of a well-placed IO line during resuscitation can lead to this occurring too.
  • Dermal abrasion – 4% in Mori study. A more recently described complication of using the semi-automatic IO approach, these injuries can occur due to friction from the rotating plastic base surrounding the EZ-IO needle. While these all seemed to settle with conservative treatment it is important to watch out for this during insertion.
  • Compartment syndrome – rare…but the smaller the patient the higher the risk.
  • Fracture or physeal plate injury.
  • Osteomyelitis – very rare, reported as 0.6% (Rosetti et al).
  • Fat embolus

The use of POCUS to rapidly confirm intraosseous line placement and reduce the risk of misplacement with extravasation has been discussed in recent times. This paper by Tsung et al in 2009 comments on its feasibility and describes using colour Doppler signal with a saline flush to identify flow in the bone around the IO to confirm placement. Misplacement may also be identified if flow is seen in the soft tissues rather than bone.  

The Super Smallies

Achieving safe and reliable intraosseous access in the neonate or infant can be a big challenge as they have smaller medullary canal diameters. Higher risks of misplacement and extravasation also put this group at risk of compartment syndrome. Case reports of limb amputation secondary to iatrogenic compartment syndrome from IO misplacement are almost exclusively in neonates and small infants.

A case report by Suominen et al. in 2015 described proximal tibia mean medullary diameters on x-ray as 7mm in neonates, 10mm in 1-12-month infants, and 12mm in 3-4-year old children. The EZ-IO needle set for this group is 15mm in length and 12mm in length once the needle stylet is removed. This leaves a narrow margin of safety for the correct positioning and the avoidance of dislodgement of the IO needle.

With the measurements above, it makes sense that one would need to stop a few mm short to avoid throuugh-and-through insertion and subsequent extravasation. Stopping short like this could make the line more difficult to protect…Scott Wingart and Rebecca Engelman outline some neat tricks to “SEAL THE HECK OUT OF…” these delicate lines over here.

The systematic review by Scrivens et al in 2019 describe IO as an important consideration for timely access in neonatal resuscitation practice. They comment on the importance of incorporating IO insertion techniques into neonatology training. While a more recent study of IO access in neonatal resuscitation by Mileder et al reports lower success rates for insertion at 75%, clearly further studies are needed to scrutinise this access modality in neonates and whether it can be considered as a standard reliable and fast alternative to umbilical vein access in a time-critical scenario.

What are the take homes?

  • Have a vascular access plan before arriving at the scene for every paediatric patient – consider adding this to the end of you WETFLAG.
  • There are clinical scenarios outside of the patient in cardiac arrest where IO placement may be necessary – the decision to IO after failed IV should be rapid in the shocked child.
  • Familiarise yourself with the equipment, needle sizes and gauge, and be aware of the age-related anatomical considerations when landmarking sites for IO insertion.
  • Let the driver do the work – nice and easy does it!
  • Complications can occur and are not always rare – extravasation from dislodgement or misplacement, as well as skin abrasions, are well reported.
  • The smaller the patient, the higher the risk of through-and-through misplacement – these “super smallies” are at a greater risk of compartment syndrome. 
  • Keep it simple….“No Flush = No Flow!”. POCUS may be used to confirm satisfactory line placement too.

References

Arrow EZ-IO Intraosseous Vascular Access System. 2017 The Science and Fundamentals of Intraosseous Vascular Access. Available at: https://www.teleflex.com/usa/en/clinical-resources/ez-io/documents/EZ-IO_Science_Fundamentals_MC-003266-Rev1-1.pdf#search=’flow%20rates’

Ellemunter H, Simma B, Trawöger R, et al. Intraosseous lines in preterm and full-term neonates. Archives of Disease in Childhood – Fetal and Neonatal Edition 1999;80:F74-F75.

Santa Barbara County Emergency Medical Services Agency Intraosseous (IO) Vascular. https://countyofsb.org/uploadedFiles/phd/PROGRAMS/Emergency_Medical_Services/Policies_and_Procedures/Policy%20538A.pdf.

Royal Children’s Hospital Clinical Practice Guideline – Intraosseous Access. https://www.rch.org.au/clinicalguide/guideline_index/Intraosseous_access/

Advanced Paediatric Life Support, Australia & New Zealand: The Practical Approach, 5th Edition Published October 2012.

Weingart et al. How to place and secure an IO in a peds patient. https://emcrit.org/emcrit/how-to-secure-an-io-in-a-peds-patient

Wade, T. Intraosseous Access in Neonates, Infants and Children. 2019. https://www.tomwademd.net/intraosseous-access-in-neonates-infants-and-children/

Mori, T., Takei, H., Sasaoka, Y., Nomura, O. and Ihara, T. (2020), Semi‐automatic intraosseous device (EZ‐IO) in a paediatric emergency department. J Paediatr Child Health, 56: 1376-1381. doi:10.1111/jpc.14940. Available at: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jpc.14940

Rosetti VA, Thompson BM, Miller J, Mateer JR, Aprahamian C. Intraosseous infusion: An alternative route of pediatric intravascular access. Ann. Emerg. Med. 1985; 14: 885–8.

Ngo AS, Oh JJ, Chen Y, Yong D, Ong ME. Intraosseous vascular access in adults using the EZ-IO in an emergency department. Int J Emerg Med. 2009;2(3):155-160. Published 2009 Aug 11. doi:10.1007/s12245-009-0116-9.Available at:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2760700/

Tsung JW, Blaivas M, Stone MB. Feasibility of point-of-care colour Doppler ultrasound confirmation of intraosseous needle placement during resuscitation. Resuscitation. 2009 Jun;80(6):665-8. doi: 10.1016/j.resuscitation.2009.03.009. Epub 2009 Apr 22. PMID: 19395142. Available at: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19395142/

Suominen PK, Nurmi E, Lauerma K. Intraosseous access in neonates and infants: risk of severe complications – a case report. Acta Anaesthesiol Scand. 2015 Nov;59(10):1389-93. doi: 10.1111/aas.12602. Epub 2015 Aug 24. PMID: 26300243.Available at: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26300243.

Intraosseous (IO) – Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust.  https://www.srft.nhs.uk/EasysiteWeb/getresource.axd?AssetID=45337&type=full&servicetype=Inline

Mileder LP, Urlesberger B, Schwaberger B. Use of Intraosseous Vascular Access During Neonatal Resuscitation at a Tertiary Center. Front Pediatr. 2020 Sep 18;8:571285. doi: 10.3389/fped.2020.571285. PMID: 33042930; PMCID: PMC7530188 Available at: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33042930/.

Scrivens A, Reynolds PR, Emery FE, Roberts CT, Polglase GR, Hooper SB, Roehr CC. Use of Intraosseous Needles in Neonates: A Systematic Review. Neonatology. 2019;116(4):305-314. doi: 10.1159/000502212. Epub 2019 Oct 28. PMID: 31658465. Available at: https://www.karger.com/Article/FullText/502212.

Lefèvre Y, Journeau P, Angelliaume A, Bouty A, Dobremez E. Proximal humerus fractures in children and adolescents. Orthop Traumatol Surg Res. 2014 Feb;100(1 Suppl):S149-56. doi: 10.1016/j.otsr.2013.06.010. Epub 2014 Jan 4. PMID: 24394917. Available at: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24394917/.

December 11, 2020 0

EMS Feedback

Communication / Emergency / Pre-Hospital
Cite this article as:
Andrew Patton and Andy O'Toole. EMS Feedback, Don't Forget the Bubbles, 2020. Available at:
https://doi.org/10.31440/DFTB.29849

Prehospital practitioners have an ever-expanding role in managing the acutely unwell and injured patient. Despite this large contribution to patient care, the majority of practitioners find it very challenging to followup or get feedback on their management of the patient.

The recent publication of the NEMSMA position paper regarding bi-directional information sharing between hospitals and EMS agencies sparked debate on Twitter about the challenges of EMS Feedback.

Gunderson, M.R., Florin, A., Price, M. and Reed, J., 2020. NEMSMA Position Statement and White Paper: Process and Outcomes Data Sharing between EMS and Receiving Hospitals. Prehospital Emergency Care, pp.1-7.

What was the paper about?

The NEMSMA Position statement and White Paper focuses on the bi-directional sharing of data between EMS agencies and receiving hospitals. The authors looked at the challenges EMS agencies face getting feedback data regarding patient outcomes, propose best practices for bi-directional data sharing and explore the current barriers to data exchange. 

The paper highlights the importance of receiving feedback and patient outcome data for quality assurance and improvement (QA/QI). Among other things, feedback is necessary for EMS providers to determine if clinical diagnoses in the field were correct, if pre-arrival notifications were effective and if the destination choice was appropriate. 

The authors surmise that with confusing and complicated healthcare law, hospitals can be reluctant to “share information due to consequences of unintentional violations” of healthcare law, and fears of liability, many of which are misconceptions.

They report that…

“Many of the commonly held legal concerns preventing data exchange are misunderstandings and unfounded fears. While all regulations and laws need to be adequately addressed, legal issues should not preclude properly conducted sharing of electronic health records for quality improvement.”

Technology also creates a number of barriers to data sharing, in particular poor interoperability between EMS electronic patient care records (ePCR) and hospital electronic healthcare records (EHR). The absence of a universal patient identification value is another significant obstacle.   

The authors reference information blocking and market competition between hospitals as two of the big political and economic barriers which can be among the most challenging to overcome. 

They conclude by recommending a collaborative effort between EMS agencies and hospitals to develop and implement bilateral data exchange policies which would benefit all stakeholders. 

This paper focuses mainly on data sharing at an organisational level, it is very relevant to the difficulties faced by individual pre-hospital practitioners trying to follow-up on patients they treat at a local level. 

Why is this so important?

As discussed in the paper, feedback is an important part of quality improvement. For individual practitioners, feedback is a vital part of the learning cycle. Feedback is essential for us to learn from our mistakes, and to improve our practice.  To improve any performance, it is necessary to measure it. A practitioner that never follows up on a patient’s outcome will be left assuming that their treatment for the presenting complaint was accurate and warranted. They will likely continue to treat the same presentation in the same way in the future because their experience has never been challenged by facts that could have been discovered during patient follow up. 

Without feedback we could be unconsciously incompetent… We don’t know what we don’t know!

What’s the difficulty?

On an individual level, obtaining feedback and patient follow-up is challenging for EMS crews for a variety of reasons. In a local survey of 98 prehospital practitioners in Dublin, Ireland, only 21% of practitioners reported being able to follow-up interesting cases.

With dynamic deployment of EMS Resources, crews might transport a patient to a hospital and not return to that same hospital during their shift. If a crew does manage to find an opportunity to call back to the hospital, frequently the diagnostic work-up may be incomplete, and a working diagnosis still unclear. EDs are busy environments and, understandably, some practitioners may feel uncomfortable stopping a doctor or nurse to follow-up on a previous patient.

Calling back a few days later has its own complications; often there will be different staff working in the department who may not have been involved in the patient’s care. This method may work for the high-acuity resus presentations, but that ‘child with shortness of breath’ whose physical exam you were unsure of, or the child with a seizure who had a subtle weakness… the chances of the Emergency Department (ED) staff remembering their diagnosis or outcome is slim! 

Phoning the ED or ward is a route explored by many practitioners, but is fraught with increasing difficulty due to reluctance of staff to give out patient information over the phone fearing confidentiality issues. 

So how do we address this challenge?

Focusing specifically on providing feedback to individual pre-hospital practitioners, there are multiple potential ways to provide prehospital practitioners with follow-up information and feedback,  but you need to consider what system will work best for your individual department, ensuring patient confidentiality and data security.

The pre-hospital postbox

St. Vincent’s University Hospital is a tertiary referral hospital in Dublin, Ireland with approximately 60,000 annual attendances. Inspired by Linda Dykes and her team’s PHEM postbox at Ysbyty Gwynedd Emergency Department in Bangor, Wales, we set-up the Pre-Hospital Post Box in St. Vincent’s University Hospital Emergency Department in August 2017. 

We engaged local prehospital clinicians and ED consultants to develop an SOP. A postbox was built and mounted by the carpentry department. Using a template from Bangor, a feedback request form was developed.  Finally, the service was advertised in the emergency department, local Ambulance and Fire Stations and we were open for business. 

Prehospital clinicians seeking feedback on a case complete a form and place it in the post-box. The case notes are reviewed by an EM doctor and feedback is provided by phone call. 

To ensure patient confidentiality, feedback is only provided to practitioners directly involved with the patient care. A triple-check procedure is used to confirm this. The practitioner’s pin number on the request form is verified on the Pre-Hospital Emergency Care Council (PHECC) register and against the patient care record. The listed phone number is also verified through practitioners known to us or the local Ambulance Officer. 

Other hospitals use systems providing feedback via encrypted email accounts or posted letters.We elected to use a phone call system, the primary reason was the anecdotal reports that many of our pre-hospital staff don’t have easy access to work email accounts. We also anticipated that a phone call would be more likely to facilitate a case discussion and allow paramedics to ask questions that might arise during the discussion. 

Challenges with this system?

Providing feedback to prehospital practitioners is a very time-consuming and labour intensive job, particularly in hospital systems where the majority of clinical documentation is still paper-based. In our own system, where handwritten ED notes are scanned, radiology, labs and discharge letters are available on-line, and in-patient notes are handwritten physical charts – we’ve found the average time required to collate details for the feedback request is just 9 minutes, with a feedback phone call averaging 5 minutes per call.

To successfully upscale this would require a team of doctors or a rota based system with allocated non-clinical time to answer requests. Alternatively a digital solution allowing paramedics to access the data themselves, or facilitating the physician managing the case to reply directly would make it more feasible but may generate further challenges. 

The ideal, as discussed in the NEMSMA paper, would be an organisational process, with the automatic provision of discharge summaries and test results by hospitals to EMS agencies which would provide useful organisational data, and subsequent feedback to individual EMS practitioners.

GDPR / Data Protection Considerations

Patient confidentiality and data protection are of utmost importance in an EMS Feedback System. The system implemented needs to have robust mechanisms, such as our triple-check, to ensure that feedback is only provided to healthcare professionals directly involved in the patient’s care. 

It is also important that it is compliant with data protection legislation in your locality, such as General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) introduced in Europe in 2018.  Our EMS feedback system is an important mechanism for us to review the care and treatment provided to patients and allows us to assist pre-hospital practitioners in evaluating and improving the safety of our pre-hospital services, which is provided for in the “HSE Privacy Notice – Patients & Service Users”

Providing EMS Feedback, in its current form, is a labour intensive process but we believe it is a worthwhile initiative. It is greatly appreciated by Pre-Hospital Practitioners and it enables them to enhance their diagnostic performance and develop their clinical practice.

If you’d like to find out more about how to set up a Pre-Hospital Post Box in your ED, have a look at these resources…

Attachments

References

Patton A, Menzies D. Feedback for pre-hospital practitioners: is there an appetite? Poster session presented at: 2017 Annual Scientific Meeting of the Irish Association for Emergency Medicine; 2017 Oct 19-20; Galway, Ireland.  

Gunderson MR ,Florin A , Price M & Reed J.(2020): NEMSMA Position Statement and White Paper: Process and Outcomes DataSharing between EMS and Receiving Hospitals, Prehospital Emergency Care, https://doi.org/10.1080/10903127.2020.1792017 

Croskerry P. The feedback sanction. Acad Emerg Med. 2000;7:1232-8.

Jenkinson E, Hayman T, Bleetman A. Clinical feedback to ambulance crews: supporting professional development. Emerg Med J. 2009;26:309.

Patton A, Menzies D. Case feedback requests from pre-hospital practitioners – what do they want to know? Meeting Abstracts: London Trauma Conference, London Cardiac Arrest Symposium, London Pre-hospital Care Conference 2018. Scand J Trauma Resusc Emerg Med 27, 66 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1186/s13049-019-0639-x  

Patton A, Menzies D. Feedback for pre-hospital practitioners – a quality improvement initiative. Meeting Abstracts: London Trauma Conference, London Cardiac Arrest Symposium, London Pre-hospital Care Conference 2018. Scand J Trauma Resusc Emerg Med 27, 66 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1186/s13049-019-0639-x   

O’Sullivan J. HSE Privacy Notice – Patients & Service Users v1.2.  2020 Feb, Accessed on-line: https://www.hse.ie/eng/gdpr/hse-data-protection-policy/hse-privacynotice-service-users.pdf 


October 19, 2020 0
Picture of ambulance

The paediatric prehospital primer

Pre-Hospital
Cite this article as:
Team DFTB. The paediatric prehospital primer, Don't Forget the Bubbles, 2020. Available at:
https://doi.org/10.31440/DFTB.28860

Here at Don’t Forget The Bubbles, we’re delighted to be collaborating with some incredible prehospital clinicians to bring you posts about providing excellent care to children before they get to hospital. While we work away behind the scenes to curate these posts, we wanted to bring some of our published archive together in our very first prehospital paediatric primer.

The paediatric assessment triangle

Safer care, out there

Pre-hospital PEM pearls

12 tips to placing a well-secured peripheral IV

Pre-hospital analgesia Part 1: Fentanyl

Pre-hospital analgesia Part 2: Methoxyflurane

Paediatric analgesia and pain assessment

Paediatric pain scales

The transition from fetal physiology

Neonatal hypoglycaemia – the HYPOEXIT trial

Neonatal hypoglycaemia – the Sugarbabies trial

Neonatal respiratory distress

Neonatal retrieval with Trish Woods

The neonatal examination

Towards a calmer resuscitation with Tim Horeczko

The ideal paediatric resuscitation

Trauma education at RCH

The burden of trauma

Maturing your approach to trauma with Annie Weaver

Traumatic head injury

Delayed presentation head injuries

Stabbings in adolescents

Stabbings in adolescents – the where and how

Minor burns

Cool running water for burns

Cutting edge burns management with Fiona Wood

Drowning

Chemical attacks on children

The high yield exam in sepsis with Alan Grayson

Fluid assessment in sepsis with Elliot Long

The high yield respiratory exam with David Krieser

Wheezing in kids

Bronchiolitis

Asthma for ambos

Croup

Inhaled foreign bodies

An approach to the paediatric ECG

Syncope in children

SVT in infants

The collapsed cardiac child with Kath Browning Carmo

Status epilepticus

Febrile convulsions

Assessing dehydration

The high yield dehydration assessment with Nikki Abela

Capillary refill time

Paediatric toxicology

Toxicological risk assessment

Non-toxic exposures

We hope you enjoy these posts. Keep an eye out for more of our prehospital posts and if you’d like to contribute to our growing prehospital library, please get in touch!

September 1, 2020 0

Prehospital analgesia: part 2

Community paediatrics / Emergency / Pre-Hospital
Cite this article as:
Joe Mooney + Dani Hall. Prehospital analgesia: part 2, Don't Forget the Bubbles, 2020. Available at:
https://doi.org/10.31440/DFTB.27501

You’re in the rapid response vehicle, having just handed over a 2 year old with a femoral fracture. As you clear the hospital, a call comes in: 8 year old, fall from slide, deformed left arm, conscious and breathing. When you arrive in the house you find him lying on the sofa, with bruising and deformity of his left elbow. The paracetamol and ibuprofen given by his mother has not controlled his pain*, so you take out a methoxyflurane inhaler and explain to him to suck in and blow out through ‘the whistle’. After a few breaths he begins to relax.

Methoxyflurane is a fluorinated hydrocarbon, used as an inhaled anaesthetic in the ’60s and early ’70s, until it fell out of favour after case reports describing renal failure at anaesthetic doses. But, when given in small doses, methoxyflurane has excellent analgesic properties, with no nephrotoxic side effects. It has been used extensively in Australia and New Zealand by prehospital clinicians as a self-administered analgesic for short-term pain relief in adults and children. After being licenced in 2015 in the UK and Ireland for the emergency relief of moderate to severe pain in conscious adults with trauma, methoxyflurane was included in the Irish prehospital CPG for EMTs, paramedics and advanced paramedics with permission under the seventh amendment to allow its use in children.

Added as a liquid to a Penthrox® inhaler, methoxyflurane vaporises, to be inhaled on demand. It has revolutionised prehospital pain control due to its quick onset and easy, pain free administration and, because of its light weight, crews can carry it over rough ground easily. Known as ‘the green whistle‘, each 3ml dose is quoted to last between 20 and 30 minutes, but in practice can sometimes last up to 45 minutes or an hour, depending on a child’s respiratory rate and depth and the way in which they self-administer. The Irish prehospital CPGs allow two inhalers to be administered in 24 hours to a patient, so when there’s an extended journey time, methoxyflurane inhalers used back-to-back can provide up to two hours of analgesia, which can be supplemented by the simple analgesics, paracetamol and ibuprofen, or morphine, fentanyl and ketamine, as needed.

But what’s the evidence for methoxyflurane in children?

Pop methoxyflurane in the PubMed search bar, and a lot comes up. It’s safe, it works, but there are surprisingly few randomised controlled trials (RCTs) that include children. A couple of observational studies are noteworthy. An Australian study in the prehospital setting, published in 2006 by Franz Babl and colleagues, describes an observational case series of 105 children, ranging in age from 15 months to 17 years, who received methoxyflurane while by being conveyed to hospital by ambulance. The children’s pain scores dropped from 7.9 to 4.5, with few side effects, although there was a tendency towards deep sedation in the under 5s. The following year Babl’s team published an ED-based observational case series of 14 children aged 6 to 13 years with extremity injuries who received methoxyflurane for painful procedures in the hospital setting. Although methoxyflurane was a useful analgesic agent, Babl’s team found it did not work as well as a procedural analgesic for fracture reduction.

The first double-blind RCT of methoxyflurane in children was published almost two decades ago by Chin et al in 2002. Forty-one children over the age of 5 with upper limb fractures were randomised to receive either methoxyflurane or placebo. Unsurprisingly, methoxyflurane resulted in a lower pain score at 10 minutes than placebo. Adverse events weren’t reported, but the apparent safety and efficacy of methoxyflurane demonstrated in this study paved the way the some bigger and better RCTs.

A better known, and more recent, RCT involving children was the STOP! trial, published in the EMJ in 2014. This randomised, double-blind placebo-controlled trial was conducted at six EDs in the UK. Three hundred patients, 90 between the ages of 12 and 17, with minor trauma (such as burns, fractures, dislocations and lacerations), were randomised to receive either methoxyflurane or saline via an inhaler. In a nifty way to keep the patients, doctors and nurses blinded to which drug was being administered, a drop of methoxyflurane was added to the outside of every inhaler so both drug devices smelled the same. Pain scores dropped significantly lower in the methoxyflurane group, with a median onset of action of 4 minutes. But what about those adolescents? Although 45 12 to 17 year olds were included in each group, their data wasn’t analysed separately, and children under the age of 12 were excluded from the study, so although we can probably assume methoxyflurane works well and is safe in adolescents, more trials would be helpful.

Segue to the Magpie trial, which is currently recruiting in the UK and Ireland via the PERUKI network. This international multi-centre randomised, double-blind placebo-controlled trial is specifically investigating the efficacy and safety of methoxyflurane in children and young people so that its UK license can be extended to include children. Like STOP!, participants are being randomised to either methoxyflurane or placebo (again saline) via an inhaler. To ensure younger children are well represented in the study data, the study team are aiming to recruit higher numbers of 6 to 11 year olds than adolescents, with a recruitment target of 220 children and adolescents in total. We’re awaiting the results eagerly…


*A top tip on top up dosing

This child had been given 500mg of paracetamol and 280mg of ibuprofen by his mother before the crew arrived. He was 8 years old, with an estimated weight of 31kg. Based on Irish CPGs allowing a paracetamol dose of 20mg/kg (620mg) and ibuprofen dose of 10mg/kg (310mg) he was underdosed. It’s important to top-up simple analgesics as part of your approach to pain relief in children.


But what happened to the 8 year old?

You check CSMs (circulation, sensation and movement) before and after applying a splint and transfer him to the ambulance on a stretcher. His pain is very well controlled, and he asks his mother to take a photo for his friends. This sentence is hard for him to say and he gets the giggles. You transfer him uneventfully to hospital where he’s diagnosed with a supracondylar fracture.

Read more about assessing pain, prehospital analgesia in children and the evidence behind intranasal fentanyl in part 1 of the DFTB prehospital analgesia series.

References

Hartshorn, S., & Middleton, P. M. (2019). Efficacy and safety of inhaled low-dose methoxyflurane for acute paediatric pain: A systematic review. Trauma, 21(2), 94–102. https://doi.org/10.1177/1460408618798391

Babl FE, Jamison SR, Spicer M, Bernard S. Inhaled methoxyflurane as a prehospital analgesic in children. Emerg Med Australas. 2006;18(4):404-410. doi:10.1111/j.1742-6723.2006.00874.x

Babl FE, Barnett P, Palmer G, Oakley E and Davidson A. A pilot study of inhaled methoxyflurane for procedural analgesia in children. Pediatric Anesthesia. 2007;17:148-153. doi:10.1111/j.1460-9592.2006.02037.x

Chin, R, McCaskill, M, Browne, G A randomized controlled trial of inhaled methoxyflurance pain relief in children with upper limb fracture. J Paediatr Child Health 2002; 38: A13–A13.

Coffey F, Wright J, Hartshorn S, et al. STOP!: a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled study of the efficacy and safety of methoxyflurane for the treatment of acute pain. EMJ 2014;31:613-618

Hartshorn, S., Barrett, M.J., Lyttle, M.D. et al. Inhaled methoxyflurane (Penthrox®) versus placebo for injury-associated analgesia in children—the MAGPIE trial (MEOF-002): study protocol for a randomised controlled trial. Trials 20, 393 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1186/s13063-019-3511-4

August 31, 2020 0