The goal of this prospective observational study is to investigate B-mode point-of care ultrasound with arterial compressibility assessment on the femoral artery as a method to determine the presence of a pulse and to compare it with concurrently conducted manual pulse checks.
Out-of-hospital cardiac arrest treated by EMS
Minimum age of 18 years
Pregnancy or suspected pregnancy
Disapproval of the treating EMS team
Adults under legal guardianship
Inability to perform femoral artery doppler ultrasound due to limited access to the patient and possible interference with the treating EMS team
The study population comprises non-pregnant adults suffering out-of-hospital cardiac arrest of any cause who are treated with CPR by emergency medical services.
Case-only
Prospective
Point of Care Ultrasound
Other interventionPoint-of-care ultrasound will be used to image the femoral vessels and to assess the presence or absence of a pulse and the compressibility of the artery during rhythm checks.
Results of POCUS pulse check
If the femoral artery is both non-compressible and pulsatile, the POCUS pulse check will be considered positive
Results of the concurrently conducted manual pulse check
Parallel to our study team the treating team will conduct standard care, consisting of determining the presence or absence of a pulse by palpation. The results of these manual pulse checks will be recorded by our study team.
Arterial compressibility during chest compressions
Before each pulse check, during the last 30 seconds of cardiac compressions, the research team will apply pressure with the ultrasound probe until complete collapse of the femoral vein and visually assess if the neighbouring femoral is compressible as well.
Arterial compressibility during rhythm checks
The compressibility of the femoral artery during rhythm checks (part of the "POCUS pulse check" primary outcome) will be recorded and analysed, independently of pulsatility
Arterial pulsatility during rhythm checks
The pulsatility of the femoral artery during rhythm checks (part of the "POCUS pulse check" primary outcome) will be recorded and analysed, independently of compressibility
Time needed for POCUS pulse checks
The POCUS pulse checks will be recorded and the time until presence or absence of a pulse could be determined will be recorded in seconds
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Medical University of Vienna
Lead sponsor
Ludwig Boltzmann Institute Digital Health and Patient Safety
Collaborator
Emergency Medical Service of Vienna
Collaborator
