Resources                   

Cardiac arrest and post-arrest care are complex and important.  No single source is definitive.

Some of our favorite articles (and their take-home message) that inform our local practices include:

• Hypothermic temperature control may be more effective for patients with greater illness severity and/or non-shockable rhythms.

• Early prophylactic antibiotics prevent later pneumonia.

• Hypoxic-ischemic brain injury after cardiac arrest is heterogenous and requires neuromonitoring to characterize and treat.

• Not all myoclonus is ominous -- you need EEG to distinguish bad news from those who might survive

• Treatment strategies needs to be chosen and titrated based on illness severity.

• With time, many post-arrest patients will awaken from coma (if you don't withdraw life-sustaining treatments first)!

• Withdrawal of life-sustaining therapies is common and prevents us from observing potential recovery in many cases.

• Be skeptical of near infrared spectroscopy.