Paramedics were not used effectively

BMJ 1995;311:508 (19 August)

Letters

Paramedics were not used effectively

EDITOR,--U M Guly and colleagues found that ambulance technicianswith a few hours' additional training performed basic life supportwith defibrillation as effectively as highly trained paramedics.¹Their study, however, has several flaws. Allocation to typeof ambulance staff was not random. The delay before the arrivalof a paramedic as a secondary response, which the authors believeto be detrimental, would not occur if a paramedic was in eachfrontline ambulance. Our main criticism of the study is thatthe paramedics were not permitted to use their full training.If the authors wished to prove that cardioactive drugs are ineffectivethey needed a third arm of the study, in which paramedics wereallowed to provide full advanced life support.

Registrar in public health Specialist nurse adviser SouthernDerbyshire Health, Derby DE1 2PH

Chief executive Derbyshire Ambulance Service, Derby DE22 3XB

Jennifer Mindell, Kate Ward, Stuart Ide

Guly UM, Mitchell RG, Cook R, . . . [Full text of this article]

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Paramedics and technicians are equally successful at managing cardiac arrest outside hospital: U M Guly, R G Mitchell, R Cook, D J Steedman, and C E Robertson
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