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PAPERS: U M Guly, R G Mitchell, R Cook, D J Steedman, and C E Robertson Paramedics and technicians are equally successful at managing cardiac arrest outside hospital BMJ 1995; 310: 1091-1094 [Abstract] [Full text]

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health professionals and cardiac arrest

selwyn m jones   (20 January 2009)

health professionals and cardiac arrest 20 January 2009
selwyn m jones, a/e staff Hereford Send response to journal: Re: health professionals and cardiac arrest	After reading article on comparing outcomes of cardiac arrests when attended by a technician or a paramedic and reading the key points such as, patients treated by techs verses paramedics does not justify government plans to have a paramedic on a frontline ambulance is not in my opinion a valid point, paramedics offer much more clinical health care when treating many patient conditions, and not to have a paramedic on every frontline ambulance, and using your two year study on cardiac arrest outcomes as a reason not to support government plans I see as damaging to the NHS and to the patients that are treated on the way to hospital in an ambulance. May I suggest you compare what treatment a paramedic can provide and what knowledge they posses when assessing and treating a patient compared to that of a technician,not just in cardiac arrest outcomes as I doubt even the best DR. surgeon performing CPR would improve the outcome of your study. However they,paramedics,DR.GP.and surgeons would improve patients outcomes whilst being treated for many other conditions. My conclusion is,if a paramedic is treating a patient with a condition that might lead to cardiac arrest prevents the cardiac arrest in the first instance by the administration of a POM which a technician on a frontline ambulance is not trained licensed to give. The government is right to have a paramedic on every frontline ambulance and would be best practice for patient care. Competing interests: None declared