Abstract
The impact of infection control measures (ICMs) on emergency resuscitation during an outbreak is unclear. The purpose of this retrospective observational study was to investigate the outcomes of emergency resuscitation after implementation of ICMs. Data were collected for the period 1 January to 4 July in 2003 from a 1732-bed tertiary care hospital in central Taiwan. Non-trauma patients who required emergency resuscitation were classified into two groups: before (period 1), and after (period 2), the date on which strict ICMs were implemented. The analysis variables included demographic data of patients, place of resuscitation, number of participating resuscitators, response time and duration of resuscitation, fever, pneumonia status and results of resuscitation. The response time was unchanged but the number of patient resuscitations without an emergency intubation, rapid sequence intubation or a 'do not resuscitate' order increased from 88 (24.4%), 23 (6.4%) and 16 (4.4%) in period 1 to 103 (33.0%), 32 (10.3%) and 29 (9.3%) in period 2, respectively. The failure rate of resuscitation was significantly higher in period 2 (odds ratio: 1.59, 95% confidence interval: 1.17-2.16). The number of emergency resuscitations in patients with fever or pneumonia was not significantly different between these two periods. In conclusion, strict ICM implementation appeared to play a role in the increased failure rate in emergency resuscitation. Normal provision of healthcare to patients and adequate protection of healthcare workers during emergency resuscitation will be of paramount importance during the next outbreak of a highly contagious disease.