BMJ
Volume 368, 2020, m1282-m1282
Mahase, Elisabeth; Kmietowicz, Zosia.
Introduction
Healthcare staff in the West Midlands have been told not to start chest compressions or ventilation in patients who are in cardiac arrest if they have suspected or diagnosed covid-19 unless they are in the emergency department and staff are wearing full personal protective equipment (PPE).
The guidance from the University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust says that patients in cardiac arrest outside the emergency department can be given defibrillator treatment if they have a “shockable” rhythm. But if this fails to restart the heart “further resuscitation is futile,” it says.
Keywords
COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, Treatment