Failed Intubation in the ED Might Delay Return of Spontaneous Circulation

Although prehospital advanced airway management is standard in the U.S., it has not been proven effective and is not performed in some countries. Researchers in a Korean city that provides only basic life support in the prehospital setting retrospectively studied all adults with nontraumatic out-of-hospital cardiac arrest who underwent attempts at endotracheal intubation during initial resuscitation on emergency department (ED) arrival at a single hospital during a 4-year period. Failed intubation was defined as a nurse's documentation of any extubation after the first pass of the endotracheal tube, any repeated advanced airway attempt, or failure of the first intubation attempt.

Of 512 patients, 50 (10%) survived to hospital discharge, 24 (…