European Resuscitation Council COVID-19 guidelines executive summary

J P Nolan; K G Monsieurs; L Bossaert; B W Böttiger; R Greif; C Lott; J Madar; T M Olasveengen; C C Roehr; F Semeraro; J Soar; P Van de Voorde; D A Zideman; G D Perkins; European Resuscitation Council COVID-Guideline Writing Groups

doi:10.1016/j.resuscitation.2020.06.001

European Resuscitation Council COVID-19 guidelines executive summary

Resuscitation. 2020 Aug:153:45-55. doi: 10.1016/j.resuscitation.2020.06.001. Epub 2020 Jun 7.

Authors

Collaborators

European Resuscitation Council COVID-Guideline Writing Groups:
S Ainsworth, D Biarent, B Bingham, M T Blom, V Borra, L Bossaert, B W Böttiger, O Brissaud, P Carli, P Cassan, M Castrén, D Cimpoesu, K Couper, C D Deakin, E De Buck, N De Lucas, J Djakow, T Djärv, P Druwé, H Ersdal, A Handley, F Hoffmann, B Klaassen, A Kuzovlev, T Lauritsen, G Lilja, C Lott, I Lulic, I Maconochie, J Madar, A M Martinez, S Mentzelopoulos, D Meyran, K G Monsieurs, C Morley, J P Nolan, T Olasveengen, P Paal, T Pellis, G D Perkins, V Raffay, G Ristagno, C Roehr, M Rüdiger, C Sandroni, F Semeraro, E Singletary, C Skåre, M Smyth, J Soar, H Svavarsdóttir, T Szczapa, A Te Pas, D Trevisanuto, N M Turner, B Urlesberger, P Van de Voorde, D Wilkinson, J Wyllie, D A Zideman

Affiliations

¹ Resuscitation Medicine, University of Warwick, Warwick Medical School, Coventry, CV4 7AL, UK; Anaesthesia and Intensive Care Medicine, Royal United Hospital, Bath, BA1 3NG UK. Electronic address: jerry.nolan@nhs.net.
² Emergency Department, Antwerp University Hospital and University of Antwerp, Wilrijkstraat 10, 2650 Edegem, Belgium.
³ University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium; European Resuscitation Council (ERC), Niel, Belgium.
⁴ Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine, Director of Department of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine, University Hospital of Cologne, Kerpener Straße 62, D-50937 Cologne, Germany.
⁵ Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Therapy, Bern University Hospital, Inselspital, 3010 Bern, Switzerland; School of Medicine, Sigmund Freud University Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
⁶ Department of Anaesthesiology, University Medical Center, Johannes Gutenberg-Universitaet, Mainz, Germany.
⁷ University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust, Plymouth, PL6 8DH UK; Department of Anesthesiology, Oslo University Hospital and Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo, Norway.
⁸ Department of Anesthesiology, Oslo University Hospital and Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo, Norway.
⁹ Nuffield Department of Population Health, National Perinatal Epidemiology Unit (NPEU), Medical Sciences Division, University of Oxford. Department of Paediatrics, Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust University of Oxford Richard Doll Building, Old Road Campus, Headington, Oxford OX3 7LF UK.
¹⁰ Department of Anaesthesia, Intensive Care and EMS, Maggiore Hospital, Bologna, Italy.
¹¹ Anaesthesia and Intensive Care Medicine, Southmead Hospital, North Bristol NHS Trust, Bristol, BS10 5NB, UK.
¹² Emergency Medicine - Clinical Head, Ghent University Hospital and University of Ghent, C. Heymanslaan 10, 9000 Ghent, Belgium; Emergency Dispatch Centre, 112 West/East-Flanders, Federal Dept Health, Belgium.
¹³ Anaesthesia and Pre-Hospital Emergency Medicine, Thames Valley Air Ambulance, Stokenchurch House, Stokenchurch, HP14 3SX, UK.
¹⁴ Critical Care Medicine, University of Warwick, Warwick Medical School and University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust, Coventry, CV4 7AL, UK.

PMID: 32525022
PMCID: PMC7276132
DOI: 10.1016/j.resuscitation.2020.06.001

Abstract

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has had a substantial impact on the incidence of cardiac arrest and survival. The challenge is to find the correct balance between the risk to the rescuer when undertaking cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) on a person with possible COVID-19 and the risk to that person if CPR is delayed. These guidelines focus specifically on patients with suspected or confirmed COVID-19. The guidelines include the delivery of basic and advanced life support in adults and children and recommendations for delivering training during the pandemic. Where uncertainty exists treatment should be informed by a dynamic risk assessment which may consider current COVID-19 prevalence, the person's presentation (e.g. history of COVID-19 contact, COVID-19 symptoms), likelihood that treatment will be effective, availability of personal protective equipment (PPE) and personal risks for those providing treatment. These guidelines will be subject to evolving knowledge and experience of COVID-19. As countries are at different stages of the pandemic, there may some international variation in practice.

Keywords: COVID-19; Cardiac arrest; Cardiopulmonary resuscitation; Personal protective equipment.

Publication types

Practice Guideline

MeSH terms

Betacoronavirus
COVID-19
Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation / standards
Coronavirus Infections / complications*
Europe
Heart Arrest / etiology*
Heart Arrest / therapy*
Humans
Pandemics
Personal Protective Equipment / supply & distribution
Pneumonia, Viral / complications*
Risk Assessment
SARS-CoV-2
Societies, Medical