Tablet-based cardiac arrest documentation: A pilot study

AimConventional paper-based resuscitation transcripts are notoriously inaccurate, often lacking the precision that is necessary for recording a fast-paced resuscitation. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether a tablet computer-based application could improve upon conventional practices for resuscitation documentation.MethodsNurses used either the conventional paper code sheet or a tablet application during simulated resuscitation events. Recorded events were compared to a gold standard record generated from video recordings of the simulations and a CPR-sensing defibrillator/monitor. Events compared included defibrillations, medication deliveries, and other interventions.ResultsDuring the study period, 199 unique interventions were observed in the gold standard record. Of these, 102 occurred during simulations recorded by the tablet application, 78 by the paper code sheet, and 19 during scenarios captured simultaneously by both documentation methods These occurred over 18 simulated resuscitation scenarios, in which 9 nurses participated. The tablet application had a mean sensitivity of 88.0% for all interventions, compared to 67.9% for the paper code sheet (P = 0.001). The median time discrepancy was 3 s for the tablet, and 77 s for the paper code sheet when compared to the gold standard (P < 0.001).ConclusionsSimilar to prior studies, we found that conventional paper-based documentation practices are inaccurate, often misreporting intervention delivery times or missing their delivery entirely. However, our study also demonstrated that a tablet-based documentation method may represent a means to substantially improve resuscitation documentation quality, which could have implications for resuscitation quality improvement and research.