What Is the Effect of Fins and Rescue Tubes in Lifesaving and Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation After Rescue?

Title: Prehospital Emergency Medicine at the Beach: What Is the Effect of Fins and Rescue Tubes in Lifesaving and Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation After Rescue?

Authors: Abelairas-Gómez C, et al.

Journal: Wilderness and Environmental Medicine, July 2016 (online)

This article doesn't necessarily provide any groundbreaking discoveries, but I thought it is worth sharing if anyone needs evidence concerning the benefit of using fins in water rescue. In this article, the authors describe the performance of 20 lifeguards during 3 different rescue scenarios: baseline CPR, water rescue without equipment + CPR, water rescue with fins and tube + CPR.

To determine effect of tube and fins, study looked at the following:

• CPR quality
• Time to rescue
• Distance covered (trajectory to patient based on GPS)
• Physiologic parameters (blood lactate and heart rate)

Bottom Line

• The use of fins and tube reduced the time for rescue and distance covered
• No effect on quality of CPR

Link:

http://www.wemjournal.org/article/S1080-6032(17)30100-X/fulltext