OBJECTIVE We developed a new chest compression depth (CCD) measuring technology using radar and impulse-radio ultra-wideband (IR-UWB) sensor. This study was performed to determine its accuracy on a soft surface. METHODS Four trials, trial 1: chest compressions on the floor using an accelerometer device; trial 2: chest compressions on the floor using an IR-UWB sensor; trial 3: chest compressio...

AIM We compared the performance of personnel in a low-resource setting when they used the I-gel cuffless neonatal laryngeal mask or a face mask on a neonatal airway management manikin. METHODS At Mulago Hospital, Uganda, 25 doctors, nurses and midwives involved in neonatal resuscitation were given brief training with the I-gel and face mask. Then, every participant was observed positioning bo...

AIMS Survival from out-of-hospital cardiac arrest is increased by bystander cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). Bystander performance can be improved when CPR instructions are delivered by a calltaker at the Emergency Communications Centre. Little is known about a young person's ability to understand these instructions and perform CPR correctly. We assessed the ability of a group of untrained ...

BACKGROUND Chest compression (CC) quality deteriorates with time in adults, possibly because of rescuer fatigue. Little data exist on compression quality in children or on work done to perform compressions in general. We hypothesized that compression quality, work, and rescuer fatigue would differ in child versus adult manikin models. METHODS This was a prospective randomized crossover study ...

Thermal effects, such as cooling power and thermophysiological responses initiated upon application of a personal cooling system, can be assessed with (i) humans, (ii) a thermal manikin and (iii) a thermophysiological human simulator. In order to compare these methods, a cooling shirt (mild cooling) and an ice vest (strong cooling) were measured using human participants and a thermal manikin. U...

BACKGROUND Paramedics are frequently required to perform tracheal intubation, a potentially life-saving manoeuvre in severely ill patients, in the prehospital setting. However, direct laryngoscopy is often more difficult in this environment, and failed tracheal intubation constitutes an important cause of morbidity. Novel indirect laryngoscopes, such as the Airtraq and Truview laryngoscopes may...

BACKGROUND Intubation of the trachea in the pre-hospital setting may be lifesaving in severely ill and injured patients. However, tracheal intubation is frequently difficult to perform in this challenging environment, is associated with a lower success rate, and failed tracheal intubation constitutes an important cause of morbidity. Novel indirect laryngoscopes, such as the Glidescope and the A...

The aim of this study was to investigate respirator filter and faceseal penetration of particles representing bacterial and fungal spore size ranges (0.7-4 mum). First, field experiments were conducted to determine workplace protection factors (WPFs) for a typical N95 filtering facepiece respirator (FFR). These data (average WPF = 515) were then used to position the FFR on a manikin to simulate...