Options for intravascular access during resuscitation of adults
Kevin Cairney Senior charge nurse in the critical care outreach team, Princess Royal University Hospital, Orpington, Kent
Matthew Ibrahim Senior resuscitation officer, Newham University Hospital, London
Kevin Cairney and Matthew Ibrahim explain the circumstances in which intraosseous access devices should be used to resuscitate adults in emergency settings
For most emergency care teams, initial intravascular access is performed intravenously, despite the challenges posed by low cardiac output physiology. Intraosseous (IO) access has been included in recent Resuscitation Council UK (2010) adult advanced life support (ALS) guidelines for cases in which intravenous access is difficult or unavailable. This article discusses how the use of IO access devices can improve ALS therapy for patients who are in, or who are at risk of, cardiac arrest.
Emergency Nurse.
20, 1, 24-28.
doi: 10.7748/en2012.04.20.1.24.c9040
Correspondence
kevincairney@nhs.net
Peer review
This article has been subject to double blind peer review
Conflict of interest
None declared
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