TITLE:
Preventable In-Hospital Cardiac Arrests― Are We Monitoring the Wrong Organ?
AUTHORS:
Lakshmipathi Chelluri
KEYWORDS:
Cardiac Arrest, Respiratory, Monitoring
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Emergency Medicine,
Vol.2 No.3,
August
27,
2014
ABSTRACT:
Pulseless Electrical Activity (PEA) and aystole are the most common initial rhythms in patients with in-hospital cardiac arrest. Respiratory failure is the most common cause for Rapid Response Team alert, and may be the initial cause for in-hospital cardiac arrests. Although cardiac monitoring is shown to be ineffective in identifying patients at risk for cardiac arrest, it is the most common monitoring used on the wards. As many of the cardiac arrests may have a respiratory origin, respiratory monitoring could identify patients at risk to develop cardiac arrest. Reclassifying cardiac arrests as primary cardiac and secondary would help in identifying secondary causes, and monitoring that could help in early identification of deterioration.