Table 1 Cardiac arrest scenario by hospital location and anticipated key challenges

Intensive care unit

77-year-old male patient with pulseless V-tach to PEA arrest

Handoff/sharing of patient’s medical history to arriving cardiac arrest team

Emergency department

67-year-old male patient, ED arrival in PSVT (rhythm with a pulse), decompensates to V-fib arrest, with concerned/loud family member at bedside

• Eliciting key information from family

• Managing difficult family member refusing to leave bedside and hindering care team

Pediatric inpatient floor

7-year-old male patient, PEA arrest

• Relatively very rare event

• Rapid mobilization of rarely used equipment

• Lack of familiarity using the cardiac arrest equipment

• Ensuring proper cardiac arrest team arrives (pediatric vs. adult)

• Ensuring team response to correct location and awareness of location to reach the pediatric floor (rare arrest location)

Pediatric emergency room

7-year-old male patient, V-fib arrest secondary to respiratory failure

• Relatively rare event

• Rapid mobilization of rarely used equipment

• Lack of familiarity using the cardiac arrest equipment

Labor & Delivery

34-year-old female, 38 weeks pregnant in early labor stages, previously well, family calls out for help. V-fib arrest

• Relatively very rare event location

• Rapid mobilization of rarely used equipment

• Lack of familiarity using the cardiac arrest equipment

• Ensuring timely activation of both cardiac arrest team plus pediatrics/neonatal teams

• Ensuring team response to correct location and awareness of location of L&D to medical team

• Rapid escalation to high-risk procedure (resuscitative hysterotomy)

Hospital lobby

62-year-old male, found unresponsive in lobby, V-fib arrest

• Rapid mobilization of equipment to location where there is no cardiac arrest or medical equipment or stretcher

• Need for coordinated team response to location and balance of care in lobby vs. expedited transfer to ED

Behavioral health (inpatient)

65-year-old male, V-tach arrest to V-fib arrest

• Relatively rare event location

• Restricted access to inpatient psychiatric floor for responding team requiring proactive unlocking of door or staff to meet responding cardiac arrest team for admittance

• Ensuring cardiac arrest team able to find location in timely manner

• Rapid mobilization of rarely used equipment that is secured in unit

• Use of rarely used equipment

Endoscopy suite

65-year-old man, V-fib arrest following anesthetic administration

• Relatively rare event location

• Very small physical space requiring coordination and limiting of personnel and equipment into room

• Management of crowd control of team members blocking patient access due to confined space

• Rapid mobilization of rarely used equipment

• Ensuring cardiac arrest team able to find location in timely manner

Cardiac catheterization lab

65-year-old man, STEMI into V-fib arrest

• Cardiac arrest management complicated by physical equipment in room for procedure

• Ensuring cardiac arrest team able to find location in timely manner