No negative impact on survival found with additional safety precautions for health care personnel during COVID-19
THURSDAY, Nov. 12, 2020 (HealthDay News) — For patients receiving cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), outcomes during COVID-19 were similar to those in 2019, according to a study presented at the American Heart Association Resuscitation Science Symposium 2020, to be held virtually from Nov. 14 to 16 as part of the annual meeting of the American Heart Association.
Noting that new CPR guidelines involving increased precautions for protecting health care providers from infection were introduced during COVID-19, Priyanka Sheth, from the University of Louisville in Kentucky, and colleagues compared patient outcomes for codes performed in a medical center since March 2020 to those for codes during the same time period in 2019. A total of 94 hospital codes were included for 80 patients.
The researchers found that the groups did not differ significantly in age, comorbidities, or rhythm type. Patients with COVID-19 had significantly higher body mass index than non-COVID-19 patients. The COVID-19 group had significantly greater code duration; however, no significant difference was seen in code survival: 50 percent of 10 COVID-19 patients and 64 percent of 84 non-COVID-19 patients survived the code. Ten percent of 10 COVID-19 patients and 25 percent of 71 non-COVID-19 patients were discharged alive.
“Based upon this analysis, the use of equipment such as N-95 face masks, face shields, and protective gowns do not appear to be degrading the quality of patient care, at least specifically during CPR procedures,” Sheth said in a statement.
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