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Prehospital resuscitation of a man with excited delirium and cardiopulmonary arrest

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 March 2015

Patrick Joseph Maher*
Affiliation:
Division of Emergency Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Washington
Mimi Walsh
Affiliation:
Seattle Police Department, Seattle, WA
Thomas Burns
Affiliation:
Seattle Police Department, Seattle, WA
Jared Strote
Affiliation:
Division of Emergency Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Washington
*
Box 359702, 1CT89, Harborview Medical Center, 325 Ninth Avenue, Seattle, WA 98104-2499; maherp@uw.edu

Abstract

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Features consistent with the syndrome known as excited delirium (ExDS) have been associated with law enforcement restraint-related death. The pathophysiology and exact causative factors of restraint-related death associated with ExDS remain unclear. We present a case of successful field resuscitation of a man with ExDS who experienced cardiopulmonary arrest while being restrained by law enforcement officers. Despite the presence of a severe lactic acidosis on emergency department admission, the patient recovered following prehospital treatment with advanced cardiac life support measures and intravenous sodium bicarbonate, likely in part due to early recognition of the disease process.

Type
Case Report • Rapport de cas
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Association of Emergency Physicians 2014

References

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