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Defibrillators Failing To Function Correctly

4/23/2015

Sudden cardiac arrest is one of the leading causes of death in the U.S. About 360,000 cases occur yearly, and a person currently has about a 5% chance of surviving an incident of cardiac arrest. It can happen to anyone, anytime, anywhere and at any age. An automated external defibrillator (AED) is the only effective treatment for restoring a regular heart rhythm during sudden cardiac arrest and is an easy to operate tool for someone with no medical background.

Time is of the essence! The average response time for first responders once 911 is called is approximately 8-12 minutes. For each minute defibrillation is delayed, the chance of survival is reduced by 10%.

Consequently, it is important that AEDs are readily available and located in public areas such as malls, airports, schools, churches, fitness centers and even medical facilities. Optimal AED placement allows a person to grab the AED and return to the victim within 90 seconds.

Unfortunately, these life-saving devices have been associated with malfunctioning problems and 2 million devices have been recalled. The FDA has received approximately 72,000 reports associated with the failure of such devices between January 2005 and September 2014. During this same period, defibrillator manufacturers have issued 111 recalls.

The FDA will begin requiring more rigorous reviews of defibrillators through a premarket approval process focusing on safety and reliability of machines and their necessary accessories, including batteries, pad electrodes, adapters and hardware keys for pediatric use. Enforcement will begin mid-2016.

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Failure To Call A Rapid Response

4/9/2015

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When does failure to call a rapid response create liability? A rapid response team (RRT) is a team of health care providers that responds to hospitalized patients with early signs of clinical deterioration on non-intensive care units to prevent respiratory or cardiac arrest.

The concept was first introduced in 2005 by the Institute for Healthcare Improvement's "100,000 Lives Campaign." Today, 10 years later, the implementation has been widespread and RRTs have been found to be responsible for improving patient outcomes throughout the hospital by:

Reducing non-critical care cardiopulmonary arrests,
Reducing patient deaths from cardiopulmonary arrests, and
Reducing non-essential transfers to critical care.

Patients whose condition deteriorates acutely while hospitalized often exhibit warning signs. In fact, research shows that cardiac arrests in hospitals are usually preceded by observable signs of deterioration, often six to eight hours before the arrest occurs. When a patient meets one of the criteria, or the nurse or family member feels concerned about the patient’s worsening condition, a team consisting of ICU physician(s), nurse(s), and/or respiratory therapist(s) responds to the patient at the bedside. The team is responsible for stabilizing the patient’s condition and integrating his/her care with the primary team. Appropriate criteria for notifying the RRT may be one or more of the following:

Acute change in level of consciousness
Acute change in HR < 40 or > 140
Acute change in systolic BP < 90 or > 180 mmHg, change in diastolic BP > 100
Acute change in RR < 8 or > 28
Acute change in oxygen saturation less than 90% despite additional oxygen therapy
Urine output < 50 ml over 4 hours
Chest pain unrelieved by nitroglycerine or new onset of chest pain
Symptoms of a stroke (such as loss of change in speech)
Threatened airway
Seizure
Unrelieved pain

Failure to recognize when a patient's condition is deteriorating can lead to failure to rescue and become a key contributor to in-hospital mortality.

Aguirre Legal Nurse Consulting can assist you in identifying adherences to and deviations from the applicable standards of care. We help assess injuries and identify causation issues and contributing factors. Let one of our legal nurse consultants help you develop your next medical-related case. Call (443) 598-2562 or email us at AguirreLegalNurseConsulting@gmail.com.

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Defibrillators Failing To Function Correctly

Failure To Call A Rapid Response

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