Hospital resuscitation teams: a review of the risks to the healthcare worker
- PMID:29046809
- PMCID: PMC5637256
- DOI: 10.1186/s40560-017-0253-9
Hospital resuscitation teams: a review of the risks to the healthcare worker
Abstract
Background: "Code blue" events and related resuscitation efforts involve multidisciplinary bedside teams that implement specialized interventions aimed at patient revival. Activities include performing effective chest compressions, assessing and restoring a perfusing cardiac rhythm, stabilizing the airway, and treating the underlying cause of the arrest. While the existing critical care literature has appropriately focused on the patient, there has been a dearth of information discussing the various stresses to the healthcare team. This review summarizes the available literature regarding occupational risks to medical emergency teams, characterizes these risks, offers preventive strategies to healthcare workers, and highlights further research needs.
Methods: We performed a literature search of PubMed for English articles of all types (randomized controlled trials, case-control and cohort studies, case reports and series, editorials and commentaries) through September 22, 2016, discussing potential occupational hazards during resuscitation scenarios. Of the 6266 articles reviewed, 73 relevant articles were included.
Results: The literature search identified six potential occupational risk categories to members of the resuscitation team-infectious, electrical, musculoskeletal, chemical, irradiative, and psychological. Retrieved articles were reviewed in detail by the authors.
Conclusion: Overall, we found there is limited evidence detailing the risks to healthcare workers performing resuscitation. We identify these risks and offer potential solutions. There are clearly numerous opportunities for further study in this field.
Keywords: Advanced cardiac life support; CPR; Cardiopulmonary resuscitation; Code blue; Code team; Hospital rapid response teams; Medical emergency teams; Occupational medicine.
Conflict of interest statement
Ethics approval and consent to participate
Not applicable.
Consent for publication
All authors agree and support publication.
Competing interests
The authors declare that they have no competing interests.
Publisher’s Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Similar articles
- 2005 American Heart Association (AHA) guidelines for cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and emergency cardiovascular care (ECC) of pediatric and neonatal patients: pediatric basic life support.American Heart Association.American Heart Association.Pediatrics. 2006 May;117(5):e989-1004. doi: 10.1542/peds.2006-0219.Pediatrics. 2006.PMID:16651298
- Approach to cardiopulmonary resuscitation induced consciousness, an emergency medicine perspective.Pourmand A, Hill B, Yamane D, Kuhl E.Pourmand A, et al.Am J Emerg Med. 2019 Apr;37(4):751-756. doi: 10.1016/j.ajem.2019.01.051. Epub 2019 Jan 29.Am J Emerg Med. 2019.PMID:30718119Review.
- Health professionals' experience of teamwork education in acute hospital settings: a systematic review of qualitative literature.Eddy K, Jordan Z, Stephenson M.Eddy K, et al.JBI Database System Rev Implement Rep. 2016 Apr;14(4):96-137. doi: 10.11124/JBISRIR-2016-1843.JBI Database System Rev Implement Rep. 2016.PMID:27532314Review.
- Simulation-based Randomized Comparative Assessment of Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest Resuscitation Bundle Completion by Emergency Medical Service Teams Using Standard Life Support or an Experimental Automation-assisted Approach.Choi B, Asselin N, Pettit CC, Dannecker M, Machan JT, Merck DL, Merck LH, Suner S, Williams KA, Jay GD, Kobayashi L.Choi B, et al.Simul Healthc. 2016 Dec;11(6):365-375. doi: 10.1097/SIH.0000000000000178.Simul Healthc. 2016.PMID:27509064Clinical Trial.
- Team-focused Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation: Prehospital Principles Adapted for Emergency Department Cardiac Arrest Resuscitation.Johnson B, Runyon M, Weekes A, Pearson D.Johnson B, et al.J Emerg Med. 2018 Jan;54(1):54-63. doi: 10.1016/j.jemermed.2017.08.065. Epub 2017 Dec 12.J Emerg Med. 2018.PMID:29100652
Cited by
- Assessment of the levels of awareness toward cardiopulmonary resuscitation: A community-based study in Northern Saudi Arabia.Alquwaiay FK, Alshammari FA, Alshammari MS, Alquwaiay DA, Alabdali NAN, Elkandow AEM, Ahmed HG.Alquwaiay FK, et al.J Educ Health Promot. 2018 Dec 28;7:167. doi: 10.4103/jehp.jehp_169_18. eCollection 2018.J Educ Health Promot. 2018.PMID:30693303Free PMC article.
- Methods of Using a Manual Defibrillator during Simultaneous Cardiac Arrest in Two Patients-Analysis of the Actions of Emergency Medical Response Teams during the Championships in Emergency Medicine.Ćwiertnia M, Dutka M, Szlagor M, Stasicki A, Białoń P, Kudłacik B, Hajduga MB, Mikulska M, Majewski M, Nadolny K, Jaskiewicz F, Bobiński R, Kawecki M, Ilczak T.Ćwiertnia M, et al.J Clin Med. 2024 Sep 17;13(18):5500. doi: 10.3390/jcm13185500.J Clin Med. 2024.PMID:39336987Free PMC article.
- The Crash Course: A Shocking Introduction to Defibrillation.Maqsood N, Whitman I, Camac ER.Maqsood N, et al.ATS Sch. 2022 Jun 30;3(2):332-335. doi: 10.34197/ats-scholar.2021-0084VO. eCollection 2022 Jun.ATS Sch. 2022.PMID:35924201Free PMC article.No abstract available.
- Preparedness of personal protective equipment and implementation of new CPR strategies for patients with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest in the COVID-19 era.Cho JW, Jung H, Lee MJ, Lee SH, Lee SH, Mun YH, Chung HS, Kim YH, Kim GM, Park SY, Jeon JC, Kim C; WinCOVID-19 consortium.Cho JW, et al.Resusc Plus. 2020 Sep;3:100015. doi: 10.1016/j.resplu.2020.100015. Epub 2020 Jun 25.Resusc Plus. 2020.PMID:34031648Free PMC article.
- Do-not-attempt resuscitation policy reduced in-hospital cardiac arrest rate and the cost of care in a developing country.Alao DO, Abraham SM, Mohammed N, Oduro GD, Farid MA, Roby RM, Oppong C, Cevik AA.Alao DO, et al.Libyan J Med. 2024 Dec 31;19(1):2321671. doi: 10.1080/19932820.2024.2321671. Epub 2024 Feb 25.Libyan J Med. 2024.PMID:38404044Free PMC article.
References
Publication types
LinkOut - more resources
Full Text Sources
Other Literature Sources