Critical Delays in Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation During Simulated Obstetric Crisis: a Prospective Observational Study.

Plain-language summary

Maternal cardiac arrest is underreported and continues to occur at rate of 1:20,000 pregnancies. Despite being predominantly younger patients, survival rates among pregnant women are poor with one case series reporting a survival rate of 6.9%. Resuscitation of a pregnant women can be challenging when compared to non-pregnant adults. Aggressive maneuvers (perimortum cesarean section) and multidisciplinary team efforts are required because of the anatomical and physiological changes associated with pregnancy, in addition to taking care of two patents (mother and fetus). The first 5 minutes from the onset of cardiac arrest are the most crucial in terms of neonatal survival. In maternal deaths involving acute cardiac arrest, advanced cardiac life support (ACLS) must be rapidly administered. Previous work suggests deficits in cardiac arrest care during maternal cardiac arrest. The current literature fails to adequately quantify the severity, timing and frequency of errors made during maternal cardiac arrest care amongst interprofessional healthcare teams. The primary goal of this study is to characterize the quality of actions by first responders during simulated in-hospital maternal medical emergencies. Specific objectives are: 1. to examine critical delays by measuring the median duration of the interval between when a resuscitation maneuver was indicated and when it was initiated by first responders ( nursing staff at L\&D attending the patient). 2. to describe the type and frequency of resuscitation errors identified as deviations from AHA guidelines during obstetric cardiac arrest. By addressing this gap in the literature, we hope to highlight areas of future education and/or innovation aimed at improving performance during maternal cardiac arrest care.

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