Inaccuracy and delay in decision making in paediatric resuscitation, and a proposed reference chart to reduce error.

Several surveys have noted the poor performance of junior hospital doctors in simulated cardiorespiratory arrest in adults. A further survey was undertaken to investigate inaccuracy and delay in the resuscitation of children. The results suggested that inaccuracy was a greater problem than delay. Because of the variation in size of children and the comparative infrequency of cardiorespiratory arrest in this age group a simple, versatile, and readily available reference chart is needed to aid rapid and accurate decisions.