Guidance for Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation of Children With Suspected or Confirmed COVID-19.

2022

07/2022

1098-4275

This document aims to provide guidance to healthcare workers for the provision of basic and advanced life support to children and neonates with suspected or confirmed COVID-19. It aligns with the 2020 American Heart Association Guidelines for Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation and Emergency Cardiovascular Care while providing strategies for reducing risk of transmission of SARS-CoV-2 to healthcare providers. Patients with suspected or confirmed COVID-19 and cardiac arrest should receive chest compressions and defibrillation, when indicated, as soon as possible. Due to the importance of ventilation during pediatric and neonatal resuscitation, oxygenation and ventilation should be prioritized. All CPR events should therefore be considered aerosol-generating procedures (AGPs). Thus, personal protective equipment (PPE) appropriate for AGPs (including N95 respirators or an equivalent) should be donned prior to resuscitation and high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filters should be utilized. Any personnel without appropriate PPE should be immediately excused by providers wearing appropriate PPE. Neonatal resuscitation guidance is unchanged from standard algorithms except for specific attention to infection prevention and control. In summary, healthcare personnel should continue to reduce the risk of SARS-CoV-2 transmission through vaccination and use of appropriate PPE during pediatric resuscitations. Healthcare organizations should ensure the availability and appropriate use of PPE. As delays or withheld CPR increases the risk to patients for poor clinical outcomes, children and neonates with suspected or confirmed COVID-19 should receive prompt, high-quality CPR in accordance with evidence-based guidelines.

10.1542/peds.2021-056043

Pediatrics

35818123

A pragmatic checklist to identify pediatric ICU patients at risk for cardiac arrest or code bell activation.

2016

33-7

2016 Feb

1873-1570

<p><strong>BACKGROUND: </strong>In-hospital cardiac arrest is a rare event associated with significant morbidity and mortality. The ability to identify the ICU patients at risk for cardiac arrest could allow the clinical team to prepare staff and equipment in anticipation.</p>

<p><strong>METHODS: </strong>This pilot study was completed at a large tertiary care pediatric intensive care unit to determine the feasibility of a simple checklist of clinical variables to predict deterioration. The daily checklist assessed patient risk for critical deterioration defined as cardiac arrest or code bell activation within 24h of the checklist screen. The Phase I checklist was developed by expert consensus and evaluated to determine standard diagnostic test performance. A modified Phase II checklist was developed to prospectively test the feasibility and bedside provider "number needed to train".</p>

<p><strong>RESULTS: </strong>For identifying patients requiring code bell activation, both checklists demonstrated a sensitivity of 100% with specificity of 76.0% during Phase I and 97.7% during Phase II. The positive likelihood ratio improved from 4.2 to 43.7. For identifying patients that had a cardiac arrest within 24h, the Phase I and II checklists demonstrated a sensitivity of 100% with specificity again improving from 75.7% to 97.6%. There was an improved positive likelihood ratio from 4.1 in Phase I to 41.9 in Phase II, with improvement of "number needed to train" from 149 to 7.4 providers.</p>

<p><strong>CONCLUSIONS: </strong>A novel high-risk clinical indicators checklist is feasible and provides timely and accurate identification of the ICU patients at risk for cardiac arrest or code bell activation.</p>

10.1016/j.resuscitation.2015.11.017

Resuscitation

26703460