Journal article
The effect of telemetry on urban prehospital cardiac care
Annals of emergency medicine, v 14(10), pp 976-981
1985
PMID: 4037478
Featured in Collection : UN Sustainable Development Goals @ Drexel
Abstract
A three-year, controlled trial of the use of telemetry in the prehospital care of cardiac patients was conducted in a major metropolitan area. Five of the ten paramedic squads in the city used telemetry; the other five squads did not. We studied the effect of telemetry on the following: 1) paramedics' abilities to recognize ECGs in a written test; 2) paramedics' abilities to identify ECG arrhythmias in the field; 3) length of time spent by paramedics in the field; 4) survival rates of patients with ventricular fibrillation (VF) cared for by paramedics; 5) abilities of base station physicians to interpret telemetered ECGs; and 6) attitudes of paramedics toward using telemetry. Telemetry was not found to affect the abilities of paramedics to read ECGs in either test or field situations. Paramedics who used telemetry spent more time in the field with their patients than did paramedics who did not use telemetry (P < .02). We found no statistically significant effect of telemetry on survival rates of VF patients. Using matched ECGs, readings by base station physicians were found to be more accurate than were those by paramedics (P < .01). Paramedics overwhelmingly reported that telemetry did not help them to save patients' lives, but that it did help them to treat patients with certain arrhythmias. The results suggest that telemetry may not improve either paramedics' abilities to identify arrhythmias or prehospital care for all cardiac patients. The implications for emergency services researchers are discussed.
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Details
- Title
- The effect of telemetry on urban prehospital cardiac care
- Creators
- C Gene Cayten - Institute for Trauma and Emergency Care, New York Medical College, Valhalla, New York, USAJacqueline Oler - Drexel UniversityKathleen Walker - Thomas Jefferson University HospitalJane Murphy - Hospital of the University of PennsylvaniaJoel Morganroth - Likoff Cardiovascular Institute, Hahnemann University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USARudoff Staroscik
- Publication Details
- Annals of emergency medicine, v 14(10), pp 976-981
- Publisher
- Mosby, Inc
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- [Retired Faculty]
- Web of Science ID
- WOS:A1985ARN7300009
- Scopus ID
- 2-s2.0-0022400912
- Other Identifier
- 991019173567204721
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- Web of Science research areas
- Emergency Medicine