Vascular Access and Intraosseus

Out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) is a time-critical emergency that requires rapid and coordinated interventions by healthcare professionals. Advanced life support protocols emphasize high-quality cardiopulmonary resuscitation, minimization of interruptions, and timely administration of vasoactive medications such as epinephrine in non-shockable rhythms.

Peripheral intravenous (IV) access is frequently used as the initial route for drug administration during cardiac arrest, while intraosseous (IO) access is incorporated into resuscitation algorithms as an alternative when IV access is difficult or delayed. The practical implementation of these access routes may vary depending on operator experience, technical complexity, and clinical context.

In addition to the choice of vascular access, the presentation of emergency medications may affect procedural performance during resuscitation. Epinephrine can be prepared from ampoules or administered using prefilled syringes, each involving different handling steps during emergency care. Evaluating procedural timing across these variables in a controlled environment may provide information relevant to training and workflow optimization.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the time required to administer 1 mg of epinephrine and the total procedure time according to the vascular access route (IV versus IO) and the drug presentation (ampoule versus prefilled syringe) in a simulated cardiac arrest setting.

Participants will be fourth-year nursing students enrolled during the 2023-2024 academic year. Participation will be voluntary. All participants will receive standardized theoretical and practical training before taking part in the simulation scenarios.

The intervention consists of a 4-hour theoretical-practical training session. The theoretical component will cover the principles, indications, and procedural steps of peripheral intravenous and intraosseous access. The practical component will involve supervised hands-on training in a simulation laboratory. Peripheral IV access will be practiced using an adult intravenous training arm (Multi-venous IV training arm adult, Laerdal®). Intraosseous access will be practiced using porcine tibias as an anatomical model.

Following training, participants will perform simulated epinephrine administration scenarios according to their randomized allocation. The primary variable recorded will be the time from the start of the procedure to the administration of 1 mg of epinephrine. Additional procedural timing variables will be collected to characterize the drug administration process under standardized simulation conditions.