Inside EMS Podcast: How Will We Ever Know Epinephrine Works If We Don’t Study Epinephrine?

Question: If a medical study were done in your city, comparing traditional medical treatment vs a placebo, would you consent to being a study subject?

If you declined, would it change your mind if you knew that you’d only be enrolled in the study if your heart stopped beating, that the traditional medical treatment to restart it fails 93% of the time, and that the 7% who survive probably owe their survival to interventions other than the drug being studied? Would that ease your mind a bit?

Well, that’s where we are with resuscitation science in this country. Most laypeople don’t know that the traditional method has an abysmal track record for success, and thus do not weigh that fact in their decision.

And sadly, even a bunch of people who should know better – EMS providers – are collectively losing their shit over just such a study in Britain, where they’ll be comparing epinephrine vs placebo in cardiac arrest.

That’s but one of the subjects co-host Chris Cebollero and I tackle in this week’s episode of Inside EMS.

Give us a listen, and tell us your thoughts.

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