Trial reportPloS one2020
Optimal paramedic numbers in resuscitation of patients with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest: A randomized controlled study in a simulation setting.
Trial report in PloS one, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 14 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
14 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 27 citations in OpenAlex.
- Resuscitative thoracotomy in traumatic cardiac arrest : Multisociety consensus recommendations for settings with a low prevalence of penetrating injuries.Wiener klinische Wochenschrift · 2026Pooled it
- Impact of the emergency medical services crew size (2 vs. ≥3 personnel) on prehospital performance and survival in severe trauma: a nationwide cohort study in Korea.Journal of trauma and injury · 2026Article
- Influence of team size on the efficiency of time-critical ALS interventions in prehospital cardiac arrest - A prospective randomised multicentre simulation study.Resuscitation plus · 2026Article
- From stress to success: using physiological data to predict cardiopulmonary resuscitation simulation performance.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Article
- The impact of additional special emergency medical service units on non-traumatic adult out-of-hospital cardiac arrest outcomes in a high-resource metropolitan area.Resuscitation plus · 2025Article
- Out-of-hospital cardiac arrest in Bahrain: National retrospective cohort study.Resuscitation plus · 2024Article
- Early prehospital mechanical cardiopulmonary resuscitation use for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest: an observational study.BMC emergency medicine · 2024Observational
- Efficiency of two-member crews in delivering prehospital advanced life support cardiopulmonary resuscitation: A scoping review.Resuscitation plus · 2024Article
- Effect of blindfolding the lead resuscitator on frequency of closed-loop communication during veterinary cardio-pulmonary resuscitation training: a randomized, controlled pilot study.Frontiers in veterinary science · 2024Article
- The number and level of first-contact emergency medical services crew and clinical outcomes in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest with dual dispatch response.Clinical and experimental emergency medicine · 2022Article
- Article
- Influence of advanced life support response time on out-of-hospital cardiac arrest patient outcomes in Taipei.PloS one · 2022Article
- Association between Paramedic Workforce and Survival Rate in Prehospital Advanced Life Support in Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest Patients.Emergency medicine international · 2022Article
- Article
Corrections and comments
- Erratum issued
Authors and funding
8 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThe effect of paramedic crew size in the resuscitation of patients with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) remains inconclusive. We hypothesised that teams with a larger crew size have better resuscitation performance including chest compression fraction (CCF), advanced life support (ALS), and teamwork performance than those with a smaller crew size.
methodsWe conducted a randomized controlled study in a simulation setting. A total of 140 paramedics from New Taipei City were obtained by stratified sampling and were randomly allocated to 35 teams with crew sizes of 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 (i.e. 7 teams in every paramedic crew size). A scenario involving an OHCA patient who experienced ventricular fibrillation and was attached to a cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) machine was simulated. The primary outcome was the overall CCF; the secondary outcomes were the CCF in manual CPR periods, time from the first dose of epinephrine until the accomplishment of intubation, and teamwork performance. Tasks affecting the hands-off time during CPR were also analysed.
resultsIn all 35 teams with crew sizes of 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6, the overall CCFs were 65.1%, 64.4%, 70.7%, 72.8%, and 71.5%, respectively (P = 0.148). Teams with a crew size of 5 (58.4%, 61.8%, 68.9%, 72.4%, and 68.7%, P<0.05) had higher CCF in manual CPR periods and better team dynamics. Time to the first dose of epinephrine was significantly shorter in teams with 4 paramedics, while time to completion of intubation was shortest in teams with 6 paramedics. Troubleshooting of M-CPR machine decreased the hands-off time during resuscitation (39 s), with teams comprising 2 paramedics having the longest hands-off time (63s).
conclusionLarger paramedic crew size (≧4 paramedics) did not significantly increase the overall CCF in OHCA resuscitation but showed higher CCF in manual CPR period before the setup of the CPR machine. A crew size of ≧4 paramedics can also shorten the time of ALS interventions, while teams with 5 paramedics will have the best teamwork performance. Paramedic teams with a smaller crew size should focus more on the quality of manual CPR, teamwork, and training how to troubleshoot a M-CPR machine.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.