title: Mechanical chest compressions in an avalanche victim with cardiac arrest: an option for extreme mountain rescue operations.
abstract: Mountain rescue operations often present helicopter emergency medical service crews with unique challenges. One of the most challenging problems is the prehospital care of cardiac arrest patients during evacuation and transport. In this paper we outline a case in which we successfully performed a cardiopulmonary resuscitation of an avalanche victim. A mechanical chest-compression device proved to be a good way of minimizing hands-off time and providing high-quality chest compressions while the patient was evacuated from the site of the accident.
authors.affiliation: Kantonsspital St. Gallen, Institut für Anästhesiologie, St. Gallen, Switzerland. Electronic address: urs.pietsch@kssg.ch.
authors.forename: Urs
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Pietsch
authors.affiliation: Hochtaunus-Kliniken gGmbH, Krankenhaus Bad Homburg, Abteilung für Anästhesie und Operative Intensivmedizin, Bad Homburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Volker
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Lischke
authors.affiliation: Schwarzwald-Baar-Klinikum, Villingen-Schwennigen Klinik für Neurochirurgie, Villingen-Schwenningen, Germany.
authors.forename: Christine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Pietsch
authors.affiliation: Air Zermatt Basis, Raron, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Karl-Heinz
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Kopp
mesh_terms: D000401:Aircraft; D055875:Avalanches; D001921:Brain / Q000503:physiopathology; D016887:Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation; D004632:Emergency Medical Services; D006323:Heart Arrest / Q000628:therapy*; D006801:Humans; D007035:Hypothermia; D000860:Hypoxia; D008297:Male; D009051:Mountaineering / Q000293:injuries; D018635:Rescue Work; D055813:Wilderness Medicine
keywords: accidental hypothermia; avalanche; helicopter emergency medical service; mechanical chest compression device; organ donation; out-of-hospital-resuscitation