
Stephen W. Trzeciak, MD
The Philadelphia Inquirer recently published an article about hospital paramedics who are using the cooling process of icing cardiac-arrest patients in the ambulance, even before they get to the ER, to prevent neurological damage. Some individuals are questioning the significant difference of doing it a few minutes sooner because there is no clear evidence that starting before arrival at the emergency room helps the patient.
“Does the 15 minutes make a difference? The jury is still out on that,” said Stephen W. Trzeciak, MD, emergency medicine physician at Cooper, who tells other ERs how to pack resuscitated patients in ice for transport to Camden. “But you certainly can kick-start the process.”