PubMed · 10295821
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J E Dougherty. 1989. Made to order.. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10295821/
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OBJECTIVE: To review the evidence that recording a prehospital 12-lead electrocardiogram (ECG) reduces time from hospital arrival to initiation of reperfusion therapy for acute myocardial infarction (AMI). DATA SOURCES: Medline search from 1966 to the present (articles in all languages) and examination of bibliographies. STUDY SELECTION: Published studies of prehospital 12-lead ECG recording that included control groups and reported time intervals from hospital arrival to start of reperfusion therapy. DATA EXTRACTION: Eight articles satisfied selection criteria (two randomised controlled trials, four non-randomised interventional studies and two prospective observational studies). DATA SYNTHESIS: Widely varying study methodologies precluded meta-analysis. All studies had methodological problems, but hospital delays were consistently reduced. Such improvements appear to be small in hospitals where delays are already minimal. CONCLUSIONS: Little evidence is available to support routine prehospital 12-lead ECG recording if the median hospital time to reperfusion is already less than 30 minutes. Improvement of in-hospital treatment times may be a better initial strategy than prehospital 12-lead ECG recording, as this will benefit more patients and allow ambulance services to better allocate their available resources.
This study was conducted to determine storage temperatures of drugs carried on rescue vehicles. Recording thermometers were placed inside drug boxes carried on rescue vehicles. Those temperatures were compared with ambient air temperatures, temperatures inside mechanically cooled compartments of the rescue vehicles, and USP-recommended drug storage temperatures. The results indicate that drug storage temperatures in some prehospital rescue vehicles exceed USP guidelines. Mechanical cooling of the storage compartment results in drug storage temperatures within the USP guidelines. Mechanical cooling of drug storage compartments on vehicles is technologically and financially possible.