ABSTRACT
This chapter presents a case study of a 19-year-old man who has been brought into the Emergency Department (ED) as a 'cardiac arrest call'. He has been brought into the ED by a full paramedic crew in cardiac arrest with ongoing CPR. This man has suffered a submersion injury and should be managed along Advanced Life Support (ALS) guidelines. CPR should be continued whilst the paramedics hand the patient over to the receiving ED team, and at the end of the 2-minute CPR cycle, a brief initial assessment should be performed when directed by the team leader. The patient is complex and has several potential reversible causes. The submersion injury will almost certainly cause pulmonary oedema by flooding the lungs with contaminated water and mixing with surfactant. The alcohol ingestion combined with the prolonged submersion means that the patient may be hypovolaemic. Warmed 0.9" saline or other cystalloid solution should be used to resuscitate the patient.
