The use of basic life support kits in general practice

Donegal is a predominantly rural area with many general practices situated considerable distances from a district hospital. Fifty Life Support Kits were supplied to General Practitioners by the Donegal Pre-Hospital Emergency Care Project in 1995 following appropriate training. This is a survey of the use of items in these kits. To determine the frequency of use of the equipment, the type and location of the incidents, the kit items utilised and patient outcome. Retrospective questionnaire survey of 49 participating GPs. 208 patient incidents were described by 46 doctors (average 4.5 per doctor) Most incidents were outside the surgery (88.24%). Road Traffic Accidents (36%) were the commonest reason for use, followed by cardiac emergencies (28%), other medical emergencies (14%) and other trauma (11%). All items except the burns sheet had been used. The most used items were cannulae, (64.7% of incidents) and fluids (50.9% incidents). Other useful items were emergency drugs, dressings, collars, airways, suction and torch. Regarding outcome, 162 patients required hospital transfer and 25 died. Eleven did not require hospital treatment. The participating doctors judged that the basic life support kits positively contributed to outcome in 79.4% of cases described. Basic Life Support kits contribute to the pre-hospital care of patients when used by GPs with immediate care training.