NHS staff given conflicting advice over resuscitation

Doctors, nurses and paramedics have been given conflicting advice about when to start resuscitation for coronavirus patients, because of infection fears.

The UK’s Resuscitation Council, the body responsible for setting standards for resuscitation in the NHS, has said it believes there is a CPR risk and staff should wear full equipment, even though Public Health England suggests otherwise.

There is increasing concern that CPR could generate fine droplets released into the air from the patient that carry a risk of infection.

The Independent has seen several examples of different messages being sent out to hospital staff and ambulance workers, and some NHS trusts were forced to change their guidance within a matter of days after PHE changed its stance. One set of guidance could mean a delay in starting CPR for patients while staff put on protective equipment, while the other means staff could be at risk of being infected with coronavirus.

Medical professionals are warning that this is leading to an ‘ethical dilemma’ for some staff who were being forced to choose between the Resus UK’s position and their trust’s guidance.

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This story was first published in digitalhealth.net

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