Medical reliability of advanced prehospital cardiac life support

Records of 263 consecutive patients receiving prehospital advanced cardiac life support for dysrhythmias associated with clinical cardiac arrest were reviewed to determine 1) accuracy of diagnosis of presenting rhythm by the paramedic in the field and the medical control physician at the telemetry base station; and 2) whether the treatment rendered was appropriate. The initial rhythm was misinterpreted by the paramedic in 41 patients (16%) and by the medical control physician in 22 patients (11%). In 16 patients (8%) both paramedic and physician misinterpreted the initial rhythm. Treatment errors occurred in 120 patients (46%). Forty-seven errors (18%) resulted from failure to establish an intravenous line, 17 (6%) resulted from failure to secure a controlled airway, and 38 (14%) were medication errors from failure to adhere to protocol. We conclude that errors in management of prehospital cardiac arrest victims in our emergency medical services system result most often from mistakes in specific therapy rather than from failure to identify the precipitating dysrhythmia.