EM Quick Hits 45 ETCO2 in Cardiac Arrest, Organ Donation, Paraphimosis, Medicolegal Myths, QI Corner

Topics in this EM Quick Hits podcast

Anand Swaminathan on continuous quantitative end-tidal CO2 monitoring in cardiac arrest (2:30)

Tahara Bhate in QI Corner - sorting out the the dizzy patient (10:00)

Andrew Healey on organ donation do's and don'ts (20:00)

Sarah Foohey on foodcourt hacks - paraphimosis, rectal prolapse, food bolus obstruction (28:10)

Jennifer C. Tang on 4 medicolegal myths (35:55)



Podcast production, editing and sound design by Anton Helman, January 2023

Podcast content, written summary & blog post by Anton Helman and Sarah Foohey, January 2023

Cite this podcast as: Helman, A. Swaminathan, Bhate, T. Healey, A. Foohey, S. Tang, JC. EM Quick Hits 45 - ETCO2, Organ Donation, Paraphimosis, Medicolegal Myths, QI Corner. Emergency Medicine Cases. January, 2023. https://emergencymedicinecases.com/em-quick-hits-january-2023/. Accessed September 14, 2025.

Value of continuous waveform quantitative end-tidal CO2 monitoring in cardiac arrest



* A sudden decrease or loss of ETCO2 may indicated the need for CPR to be started

* ETCO2 is an indirect assessment of quality of chest compressions (location, rate, depth); adequate chest compressions correlate with ETCO2 pressures of ≥20mmHg.

* A rise of ETCO2 >20mmHg is highly specific for ROSC in patients with PEA arrest; on average, patients with ROSC after CPR had an average ETCO2 level of 25 mmHg in one meta-analysis

* An up-trending ETCO2 during resuscitation suggests continuing resuscitative efforts unless there is overwhelming clinical evidence to the contrary

* Confirmation of airway placement and subsequent guide for adequate delivery of breaths using BVM or supraglottic device and ventilation rates for ETT with more immediate feedback than oxygen saturation monitoring

* A general "rule" is that if the ETCO2 is consistently