Rapid sequence induction: a survey of practices in three French prehospital mobile emergency units.
OBJECTIVE
This prospective study was conducted in three mobile emergency and intensive care units.


METHODS
The patients were over 15 years of age and were not in cardiac arrest. The study was to compare practices in the three units with the guidelines drawn up by the Commission of Experts so as to define the main parameters for quality assurance. All of the patients involved were considered to have full stomachs and required rapid sequence induction.


RESULTS
This procedure comply the guidelines only in 45% of cases; in the other cases succinylcholine should have been administered (mobile emergency and intensive care unit A) and the Sellick manoeuvre should have been used (mobile emergency and intensive care unit A and B). Notwithstanding, these two centres treated more traumatized patients than mobile emergency and intensive care unit C, and use of the Sellick manoeuvre in such circumstances is questionable.


CONCLUSIONS
More training and greater diffusion of the protocols are required, especially with regard to doctors who intervene intermittently.
Jérémie
Nicolas
N
Département d'Anesthésie Réanimation, SAMU 21, Hôpital Général, Dijon Cedex, France.
Seltzer
Sandrine
S
Lenfant
François
F
Ricard-Hibon
Agnès
A
Facon
Alain
A
Cabrita
Bruno
B
Messant
Irene
I
d'Athis
Philippe
P
Freysz
Marc
M