Performance of Emergency Medical Service Providers in Pediatric and Adult Simulation of Unstable Supraventricular Tachycardia

OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study was to compare emergency medical service resuscitation of pediatric and adult high-fidelity manikins in unstable supraventricular tachycardia. The primary objective was time to cardioversion. The secondary objective was to assess if the cardioversion was synchronized at the correct dosage for the manikin's weight. METHODS: Emergency medical service providers were voluntarily enrolled as part of an emergency medical service training program. Participants were randomized to either a pediatric or adult resuscitation as their study scenario. They then completed the second resuscitation as part of the training program. Participants completed presurvey and postsurvey. Resuscitations were videotaped and analyzed by a blinded reviewer. The study was powered to detect a 60-second difference in performance between pediatric and adult scenarios with a β of 0.8 and 2-tailed α of 0.05 using an independent-samples t test. RESULTS: A total of 37 participants were enrolled. Participants in the pediatric arm had a longer mean time to cardioversion, but the difference was not statistically significant. The mean delay to cardioversion in the pediatric scenario was 34 seconds (197 vs 163 seconds; difference 95% confidence interval [CI], -5 to 73 seconds; P = 0.09). There was no significant difference in the percentage of participants who administered a correct dose (32% vs 50%; difference 95% CI, -50% to 13%; P = 0.75) or regarding synchronization of cardioversion (74% vs 83%; difference 95% CI, -36% to 17%; P = 0.42). CONCLUSIONS: Emergency medical service providers did not have a significant difference in time to cardioversion between pediatric and adult unstable supraventricular tachycardia simulations.