title: Implementation of a titrated oxygen protocol in the out-of-hospital setting.
abstract: Oxygen is one of the most frequently-used therapeutic agents in medicine and the most commonly administered drug by prehospital personnel. There is increasing evidence of harm with too much supplemental oxygen in certain conditions, including stroke, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), neonatal resuscitations, and in postresuscitation care. Recent guidelines published by the British Thoracic Society (BTS) advocate titrated oxygen therapy, but these guidelines have not been widely adapted in the out-of-hospital setting where high-flow oxygen is the standard. This report is a description of the implementation of a titrated oxygen protocol in a large urban-suburban Emergency Medical Services (EMS) system and a discussion of the practical application of this out-of-hospital protocol.
authors.affiliation: 1Los Angeles County Emergency Medical Services Agency,Los Angeles,California USA.
authors.forename: Nichole
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Bosson
authors.affiliation: 2Department of Emergency Medicine Harbor-UCLA Medical Center,Torrance,California USA.
authors.forename: Marianne
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gausche-Hill
authors.affiliation: 1Los Angeles County Emergency Medical Services Agency,Los Angeles,California USA.
authors.forename: William
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Koenig
mesh_terms: D002985:Clinical Protocols; D004632:Emergency Medical Services / Q000379:methods*; D019317:Evidence-Based Medicine; D006801:Humans; D015141:Los Angeles; D010102:Oxygen Inhalation Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic