In the "CPR-5" article, we describe the protocol of a multicenter randomized crossover trial designed to evaluate the impact of airway management strategy (basic vs intermediate) on ventilation parameters in a simulated model of pediatric cardiac arrest.

Click here to read this article (Stuby L, Mühlemann E, Jampen L, Thurre D, Siebert JN, Suppan L. Effect of Intermediate Airway Management on Ventilation Parameters in Simulated Pediatric Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest: Protocol for a Multicenter, Randomized, Crossover Trial. Children 2023.)

Reference: Stuby L, Mühlemann E, Jampen L, Thurre D, Siebert JN, Suppan L. Effect of Intermediate Airway Management on Ventilation Parameters in Simulated Pediatric Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest: Protocol for a Multicenter, Randomized, Crossover Trial. Children. 2023; 10(1):148. https://doi.org/10.3390/children10010148

Pediatric cardiac arrests are, fortunately, rare occurences which deeply affect prehospital providers. Most pediatric cardiac arrests are consecutive to hypoxic mechanisms and the European Resuscitation Council (ERC) guidelines advocate the provision of 5 initial rescue breaths prior to initiating chest compressions. Conversely, the American Heart Association (AHA) recommends following the adult resuscitation sequence. We took advantage of the first prehospital research day of the French part of Switzerland to carry out a crossover, randomized trial to evaluate the impact of ERC and AHA guidelines on alveolar ventilation in a simulated model of pediatric cardiac arrest.

Click here to read this study, codenamed CPR-4 (Impact of Two Resuscitation Sequences on Alveolar Ventilation during the First Minute of Simulated Pediatric Cardiac Arrest: Randomized Cross-Over Trial)

Reference: Suppan, L.; Jampen, L.; Siebert, J.N.; Zünd, S.; Stuby, L.; Ozainne, F. Impact of Two Resuscitation Sequences on Alveolar Ventilation during the First Minute of Simulated Pediatric Cardiac Arrest: Randomized Cross-Over Trial. Healthcare 2022, 10, 2451. https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare10122451

To enhance participant recruitment, a motivational video was broadcasted prior to this research day. You can access this video by clicking here.

Many research papers, including CPR-2 and CPR-3, show that supgraglottic airway (SGA) devices have unique properties that set them apart from bag-valve-mask (BVM) devices and tracheal intubation (TI).

To better acknowledge these differences and motivate fellow researchers to specifically assess the impact of SGA devices, we recently published a viewpoint in Healthcare (MDPI): Suppan, L.; Fehlmann, C.A.; Stuby, L.; Suppan, M. The Importance of Acknowledging an Intermediate Category of Airway Management Devices in the Prehospital Setting. Healthcare 2022, 10, 961. https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare10050961

Click here to see the abstract on Pubmed.

Our second publication ("CPR-2") unexpectedly revealed that using an i-gel® device was associated with significantly shallower chest compressions. Different hypotheses were drawn to explain this finding and we theorized that the bulk of the airway management apparatus could lead to shallower compressions when the rescuer was positioned at the patient's head. 

We therefore carried out a post-hoc analysis ("CPR-3") to determine the impact of the over-the-head position on chest compression depth and rate when a supraglottic airway device was used.

Click here to read this study (Impact of the Over-the-Head Position with a Supraglottic Airway Device on Chest Compression Depth and Rate: A Post Hoc Analysis of a Randomized Controlled Trial)Click here to read this study (Impact of the Over-the-Head Position with a Supraglottic Airway Device on Chest Compression Depth and Rate: A Post Hoc Analysis of a Randomized Controlled Trial)

Reference: Stuby L, Suppan L, Jampen L, Thurre D. Impact of the Over-the-Head Position with a Supraglottic Airway Device on Chest Compression Depth and Rate: A Post Hoc Analysis of a Randomized Controlled Trial. Healthcare. 2022; 10(4):718. https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare10040718 (PMID 35455895)