Being A 'Resuscitationist'

Upcoming SMACC Talk in 2016
"SO YOU THINK YOU’RE A RESUSCITATIONIST…?" will be delivered by Dr. Victoria Brazil

Well - I think we are about to find out if we are or not! 

A simple definition of resuscitation might be: to bring (someone who is unconscious, not breathing, or close to death) back to a conscious or active state again (Merriam-Webster Dictionary)

I think we can all identify with this simple definition - but in this modern age, the term is breathed freely into a lot of aspects of emergency medicine, anaesthetics, intensive care and acute medicine and even beyond.

'Resuscitationist' is a term that has garnered a lot of chat recently. People refer to themselves as 'avowed' resuscitationists, learners of resuscitation or imply that it is part of their work on a daily or frequent basis. It certainly gathers a lot of kudos and frequently conjures images of 'sexy medicine', adrenaline fuelled CPR, central lines, resuscitative thoracotomies, chest drains and scalpels. Given the amount of people we routinely 'resuscitate' to prevent further system collapse or arrest, for example, early-on in Sepsis - this is clearly not always the case.

So, who or what is a Resuscitationist? Perhaps that is what Dr Brazil partially seeks to answer. It is likely that everyone involved with sick people is a resuscitations to some degree and has a role to play in being a life saver.

In our minds however, it most frequently it includes those involved in dealing with trauma patients, cardiac arrest, respiratory arrest, airway disasters, massive haemorrhage, traumatic brain injuries, nursing, paramedicine, 'resus' room in the ED, ICU, theatre patients who are very sick, laparotomies, pre-surgical resuscitation and much more.

It also implies a lot of team work and interaction - which another SMACC talk seeks to address also.

I think this is going to prove to be an excellent talk and provide excellent discussion points. Dr Brazil is a wonderful speaker. Many of us feel we are directly connected to a field of resuscitation, so there ought to be learning points for everyone.

Things to probably bear in mind with resuscitation in general are (not necessarily in order):
1. Team work
2. Skill set (Senior Team vs Junior Team vs Skills)
3. Training/Education Opportunities (courses/FOAMed etc)
4. Location (ED/ICU/Theatre/Wards/OOH etc)
5. Mindset of the team leader and members
6. What investigations are commonly needed/done?
7. Procedures to be done?
8. What are we seeking to achieve?
9. Appropriateness of actions (DNAR/Condition/Trauma)
10. Destination (What is happening to the patient and where are they going? Scans etc.)

RESOURCES:
EMCrit does a good Podcast on 'The Mind of a Resuscitationist' - about how we agonise over difficult decisions (with Dr. Cliff Reid)

Obviously, resuscitation involves elements of Advanced Life Support, BLS, APLS etc. (Click Here)

There are many Trauma Courses that offer training in advanced techniques. An excellent resource with FOAM-based material is the ATACC course - with a free manual (Click Here)