Special resuscitation situations: near drowning, traumatic injury, electric shock, and hypothermia

Abstract

Special resuscitation situations are cardiopulmonary arrests requiring modification or extension of conventional life support techniques. Significant controversy exists with regard to several aspects of special resuscitation, including whether or not there is a need to clear the airway of a near-drowning victim with the Heimlich maneuver and whether CPR should be initiated in an unmonitored hypothermic patient showing no signs of life. The previous standards and guidelines almost entirely neglected the management of cardiac arrest due to traumatic injury. The conference panel on Special Situations recommended that: the Heimlich maneuver should only be performed on near-drowning victims when the rescuer suspects that foreign matter is obstructing the airway or the victim fails to respond appropriately to mouth-to-mouth ventilation, further investigation is needed to better define the need for, the risks of, and the timing of the Heimlich in the near-drowning victim, there should be an expanded section in the standards and guidelines describing the differences in the management of a victim whose cardiac arrest is due to traumatic injury, CPR is indicated and should be done on a pulseless, unmonitored hypothermic patient in the field, but that a longer time to check for a pulse (up to one minute) may be required, and guidelines that the panel proposed be used for management of the underwater submersion victim in cardiac arrest.