Resuscitation and emergency care in drowning: A scoping review

J Bierens; C Abelairas-Gomez; R Barcala Furelos; S Beerman; A Claesson; C Dunne; H E Elsenga; P Morgan; T Mecrow; J C Pereira; A Scapigliati; J Seesink; A Schmidt; J Sempsrott; D Szpilman; D S Warner; J Webber; S Johnson; T Olasveengen; P T Morley; G D Perkins

doi:10.1016/j.resuscitation.2021.01.033

Resuscitation and emergency care in drowning: A scoping review

Resuscitation. 2021 May:162:205-217. doi: 10.1016/j.resuscitation.2021.01.033. Epub 2021 Feb 4.

Authors

J Bierens¹, C Abelairas-Gomez², R Barcala Furelos³, S Beerman⁴, A Claesson⁵, C Dunne⁶, H E Elsenga⁷, P Morgan⁸, T Mecrow⁹, J C Pereira¹⁰, A Scapigliati¹¹, J Seesink¹², A Schmidt¹³, J Sempsrott¹⁴, D Szpilman¹⁵, D S Warner¹⁶, J Webber¹⁷, S Johnson¹⁸, T Olasveengen¹⁹, P T Morley²⁰, G D Perkins²¹

Affiliations

¹ Research Group Emergency and Disaster Medicine, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, 1090 Brussels, Belgium.
² Faculty of Education Sciences and CLINURSID Research Group, Universidade de Santiago de Compostella, Spain.
³ Faculty of Education and Sport Sciences, REMOSS Research Group, Universidade de Vigo, Pontevedra, Spain.
⁴ Department of Family Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Nanaimo, BC V9S 4V9, Canada.
⁵ Department of Medicine, Centre for Resuscitation Science, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
⁶ Department of Emergency Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB T2N 2T9, Canada.
⁷ Surfing Medicine International, The Hague, The Netherlands.
⁸ Department of Anaesthesia, North Bristol NHS Trust, Bristol BS10 5NB, UK.
⁹ Royal National Lifeboat Institution, West Quay Road, Poole BH15 8HL, UK.
¹⁰ Faculdade de Medicina, Faculdades Pequeno Príncipe, Curitiba, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
¹¹ Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli, IRCCS, Institute of Anesthesia and Intensive Care, Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, Rome, Italy.
¹² Department of Anaesthesiology, Erasmus MC University Medical Centre, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
¹³ Department of Emergency Medicine, University of Florida-Jacksonville, FL, USA.
¹⁴ Lifeguards Without Borders, Kuna, ID, USA.
¹⁵ Brazilian Lifesaving Society - SOBRASA, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
¹⁶ Department of Anesthesiology, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA.
¹⁷ Department of Anaesthesiology, The University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand.
¹⁸ Warwick Evidence, Warwick Medical School, University of Warwick, Coventry CV4 7AL, UK.
¹⁹ Department of Anesthesiology, Oslo University Hospital, Norway.
²⁰ Royal Melbourne Hospital, Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia.
²¹ Warwick Medical School and University Hospitals Birmingham, University of Warwick, Coventry CV4 7AL, UK. Electronic address: g.d.perkins@warwick.ac.uk.

PMID: 33549689
DOI: 10.1016/j.resuscitation.2021.01.033

Abstract

Background: The ILCOR Basic Life Support Task Force and the international drowning research community considered it timely to undertake a scoping review of the literature to identify evidence relating to the initial resuscitation, hospital-based interventions and criteria for safe discharge related to drowning.

Methods: Medline, PreMedline, Embase, Cochrane Reviews and Cochrane CENTRAL were searched from 2000 to June 2020 to identify relevant literature. Titles and abstracts and if necessary full text were reviewed in duplicate. Studies were eligible for inclusion if they reported on the population (adults and children who are submerged in water), interventions (resuscitation in water/boats, airway management, oxygen administration, AED use, bystander CPR, ventilation strategies, ECMO, protocols for hospital discharge (I), comparator (standard care) and outcomes (O) survival, survival with a favourable neurological outcome, CPR quality, physiological end-points).

Results: The database search yielded 3242 references (Medline 1104, Pre-Medline 202, Embase 1722, Cochrane reviews 12, Cochrane CENTRAL 202). After removal of duplicates 2377 papers were left for screening titles and abstracts. In total 65 unique papers were included. The evidence identified was from predominantly high-income countries and lacked consistency in the populations, interventions and outcomes reported. Clinical studies were exclusively observational in nature.

Conclusion: This scoping review found that there is very limited evidence from observational studies to inform evidence based clinical practice guidelines for drowning. The review highlights an urgent need for high quality research in drowning.

Keywords: Advanced life support; Basic life support; Drowning; Special circumstances; Submersion.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Review

MeSH terms

Adult
Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation*
Child
Drowning*
Emergency Medical Services*
Humans
Resuscitation