Out-of-Hospital Continuous Positive Airway Pressure Ventilation Versus Usual Care in Acute Respiratory Failure: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Paramedics can be trained to use CPAP for patients in severe respiratory failure. There was an absolute reduction in tracheal intubation rate of 30% and an absolute reduction in mortality of 21% in appropriately selected out-of-hospital patients who received CPAP instead of usual care. Larger, multicenter studies are recommended to confirm this observed benefit seen in this relatively small trial.