HEMS Debrief – Cardiac Arrest Focus. #1, Dr Paul Rees

Hello, and welcome back to the Sydney HEMS debrief, focus on cardiac arrest.

This is the first in a series of podcasts dedicated entirely to cardiac arrest, the physiology driving the clinical presentation and how we can more effectively use physiological principles and basic science to underpin clinical care and research. 

In this week’s episode, we have the privilege of talking with Dr Paul Rees.

Who better to talk all things myocardial perfusion and it’s optimisation during cardiac arrest than an interventional cardiologist and pre-hospital physician. Paul explains the physiology of cardiac arrest from an interventional cardiologist perspective as we ask him the hard questions on:

• Optimal diastolic blood pressure thresholds to improve ROSC
• The role of adrenaline in improving coronary artery perfusion, the downside to it’s administration and the potential alternatives 
• The role of selective aortic aortic arch perfusion (SAAP), the current ERICA study and the potential for this procedure to improve cardiac arrest survival 
• The key elements in building a successful endovascular resuscitation program for those services wishing to embark on ECPR and/or REBOA

We hope you enjoy this episode, please contact Sam or Nat if you have any comments or questions.