Prehospital resuscitation decisions (PROTECTeD)

• Research type

  Research Study

• Full title

  Exploring and improving resuscitation decisions in out of hospital cardiac arrest

• IRAS ID

  264842

• Contact name

  Gavin Perkins

• Contact email

  g.d.perkins@warwick.ac.uk

• Sponsor organisation

  University of Warwick

• Duration of Study in the UK

  2 years, 10 months, 31 days

• Research summary

  When the heart suddenly stops beating, treatment (known as resuscitation) must be started quickly. NHS Ambulance Services are called to help 30,000 people with this condition each year. Despite the best efforts of ambulance staff less than one in 10 people whose heart stops survive. This means that ambulance staff often have to make the difficult decision of when to stop resuscitation.

  The old guidelines no longer correctly guide paramedics when to stop treatment or when to carry on. This means that treatment may be stopped too soon in some patients. In other patients, the guidelines suggest to move the patient to hospital despite the fact they have no chance of surviving. The knock-on effects of this are journeys which put ambulance staff and other road users at risk of injury. Patients are separated from their families and taken to a busy hospital. At the hospital, it is difficult for staff to allow the family to spend quiet time with the patient. Hospitals also become overcrowded which can affect other patients. This research will develop new guidelines based on the most up to date information available.
  We will find out the views of ambulance and hospital staff, patients and relatives. This will help make sure the guidelines are acceptable to everyone.
  DESIGN: The project involves 5 pieces of work (work packages, (WP)).
  1) Reviewing research undertaken by others and see how it can be used in the NHS
  2) Finding out how ambulance services make decisions to stop or carry on with treatment
  3) Seeing what effects different guidelines may have on how ambulance staff treat patients and knock-on effects for hospitals
  4) Talking to ambulance and hospital staff, patients and relatives find out what they
  think and what is important to them.
  5) Combining the information above to write new guidelines in partnership with
  ambulance and hospital staff, patients and members of the public

• REC name

  East Midlands - Derby Research Ethics Committee

• REC reference

  19/EM/0358

• Date of REC Opinion

  28 Feb 2020

• REC opinion

  Further Information Favourable Opinion