Death from sudden cardiac arrest (no pulse and no breathing) is one of the leading causes of death in the nation. Over half of the patients who suffer sudden cardiac arrest do so outside of a hospital. Nationwide the success rates of resuscitation from out of hospital cardiac arrest are in the single digits. Even those patients who get a pulse back and start breathing again have a less than desirable outcome. This has led LCEMS to find ways to increase the patient’s chance of survival.

Lancaster County EMS (LCEMS) has added another innovative treatment. ICE (Induced Cooling by EMS) involves reducing the body temperature of patients who are resuscitated from non-traumatic cardiac arrest. Over the years LCEMS has added numerous devices and changed the way they resuscitate to aid in this battle. ICE is another tool in that arsenal. LCEMS will be one of the first EMS services in SC to begin Induced Hypothermia in patients who are resuscitated from Cardiac arrest.

Greg Robinson, LCEMS NREMTP, RN, developed the protocol and has trained all LCEMS paramedics in this procedure. “This is a simple, but effective treatment that should see 5 to 10 Lancaster County residents walk out of the hospital. Without ICE, they would have died. And it is cheap”.

Patients who are resuscitated from non-traumatic cardiac arrest will be evaluated for possible inclusion in ICE. If they meet the criteria, they will have Cool Packs placed over parts of the body, and will receive up to 2 Liters of Ice cold Normal Saline IV. These patients will then be transported to participating hospitals where the cooling therapy will be continued for 24 hours; afterwards the patient will be slowly re-warmed. The goal of ICE is to maintain their temperature at around 90-93 degrees Fahrenheit . ICE has a protective effect on the brain and reduces the amount of damage caused by the lack of oxygen in cardiac arrest.

Hospitals that are participating are CMC and Palmetto Richland. Since time is the most important factor, these patients will be flown to one of the hospitals.

The procedure itself is not new, it has been around for years, but has recently gained acceptance in the pre-hospital and hospital environment for this type of patient. The American Heart Associations highly recommends ICE for patients resuscitated from cardiac arrest.