SA国际传媒

SA国际传媒

NAEMSP president responds to NFPA position on heads-up CPR

President Jos茅 G, Caba帽as MD, MPH, FAEMS, said the non-clinical forum sets a dangerous precedent related to patient care

By Bill Carey
SA国际传媒

ATLANTA 鈥 The president of the National Association of EMS Physicians (NAEMSP) released a statement critical of a recently published position paper on CPR from the National Fire Protection Association鈥檚 Urban Fire Forum in September.

NAEMSP President Jos茅 G, Caba帽as, MD, MPH, FAEMS, said the recommendations from 鈥鈥 raises questions about the appropriateness of a non-clinical forum and their involvement in ongoing scientific dialogues that directly impact patient care, specifically the elevation of head and torso during CPR.

鈥淭he involvement of non-clinical forum in making statements about our practice sets a potentially dangerous precedent that could create pressure from non-clinical leaders and elected officials to adopt clinical practices that are not based on strong scientific evidence,鈥 Caba帽as wrote. 鈥淎s dedicated EMS clinicians, we understand the importance of evidence-based medicine and the need for rigorous evaluation before endorsing widespread adoption of clinical practices based on preliminary observational evidence that almost always has major limitations due to bias.鈥

Caba帽as added, 鈥渢he concept of elevating the head and torso during CPR is certainly provocative and represents disruptive thinking that may potentially be important as we seek to improve outcomes from cardiac arrest.鈥

He went on to state that any publications calling for a recognized and accepted widely applicable standard of care should include authorship, as well as disclosure of conflicts of interest, to fully evaluate the objectivity of the position statement.鈥

Read NAEMSP President Jos茅 G. Caba帽as'鈥.

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RELATED: NFPA: Metro chiefs announce positions on critical fire, EMS issues

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