Management of ventricular fibrillation by doctors in cardiac arrest teams

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Abstract
In December 1993 and January 1994 we conducted a telephone survey of 113 doctors in the cardiac arrest teams from 62 teaching and district hospitals in England and Wales. These hospitals were randomly selected from the 1993 directory of the British Association for Accident and Emergency Medicine. The doctors carrying cardiac arrest pagers were contacted consecutively on the same day through their hospital operators to prevent discussion between them. They were asked about management of a witnessed cardiac arrest due to ventricular fibrillation, practical training for cardiopulmonary resuscitation within the previous year, knowledge of the European Resuscitation Council guidelines, whether they were certified providers of advanced cardiac life support or advanced life support, and postgraduate qualifications. Each doctor's management of ventricular fibrillation was compared with the protocol stipulated in the council's guidelines.