However, the simulator is unable to detect and/or record the depth of chest compressions and the adequacy of mask ventilation. A cannula was placed in a peripheral vein to allow for intravenous administration of drugs. A commercially available manual defibrillator was placed next to the bed. All participants received a

15 min structured instruction on the technicalities of the simulator. Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical Study design This is a prospective randomized study. Each resuscitation team consisted of a nurse and either three general practitioners or three hospital physicians. The nurse belonged to the simulator team and was instructed to display a helpful attitude, but to be active on commands only. Using sealed envelopes a stratified randomization according to the participants’ profession was employed to assign an equal number of teams composed of either general practitioners or hospital physicians to two selleck products different Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical versions of a scenario of a simulated witnessed cardiac arrest: version “ad-hoc” mimics reality in that only one physician, randomly selected from his/her team, was present at the start of the scenario Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical and the remaining two physicians were summoned to help

upon the onset of the cardiac arrest; in version “preformed” all three physicians were present right from the start of the scenario. Pilot experiments revealed that a time period of approximately 5 min during which preformed teams together Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical receive information about the patient’s history and subsequently assess together the patient is sufficient to structure the team, and that longer time periods feasible within the settings of simulation offer no significant advantage. Scenario Prior to the simulation, teams were instructed that they were the responsible Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical physicians for the “patient” and that a nurse, fully familiar with all technicalities of the simulator and the equipment, would help them upon request. Teams of general practitioners were informed that the scenario would take place in a group practice where all three of

them would work. Teams of hospital physicians Cilengitide were informed that the scenario would take place in the ambulatory part of a hospital where all three of them would work. In “ad-hoc” teams, two randomly selected members were then led to a room adjacent to the simulator and the remaining physician was instructed that help from his/her colleagues would be immediately available on request. Thereafter, the case history was given to the one remaining physician of the “ad-hoc” teams or to all three physicians of the “preformed” teams. The “patient” was a 66 year old man who felt dizzy after an uneventful bicycle stress test. Upon entering the simulator room, the physician(s) encountered a talkative “patient” connected to a monitor showing sinus rhythm. The “patient” did not feel dizzy anymore but volunteered a detailed account of that episode.