In November 2020, Dr. Mark Piehl, Founder and CMO of 410 Medical, along with Dr. Peter Antevy, Founder and CMO of Handtevy Pediatric Emergency Standards, and Dr. Teresa Riech, Military and Medical Advisor to Enduvo, shared their stories regarding healthcare innovations during an online, Resuscitation-themed Conference Day for the Emergency Nurses Association (ENA). Dr. Elizabeth Stone, a pediatric emergency nurse, facilitated the panel presentation, “Innovations in Pediatric Resuscitation.” The three panelists shared powerful personal stories of inspiration, challenges and lessons learned during the innovation process, and examples of how nurses and prehospital professionals were – and still are – instrumental in their work to combat clinical challenges through innovation.
Dr. Antevy presented current evidence regarding gaps in pediatric survival after pre-hospital arrest. He described how the Handtevy method had helped simplify pre-hospital medication dosing in critical situations and contributed to an increase in pediatric pre-hospital survival after return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC). He showed a news clip of a child found drowned in a pool after 7 minutes who received swift pre-hospital care and emergency medications and, consequently, had a full 100% recovery.
Dr. Piehl shared a story from years ago about a young trauma patient he cared for in the ICU who ultimately inspired him to develop the Lifeflow® rapid infusion device. The child was experiencing severe hemorrhage. She needed immediate volume resuscitation to have any chance at survival. At the time, there was no method available that Dr. Piehl could easily access, set up quickly, and utilize to safely administer rapid intravenous fluids to a pediatric patient. A “Level One” rapid infuser was brought up from the ED, but nobody in the ICU knew how to set it up or use it. The child ultimately died from hemorrhagic shock, and Dr. Piehl went on to develop the LifeFlow device in hopes to prevent similar tragedies.
Dr. Teresa Riech discussed training challenges related to health professional education and how these challenges had been magnified during the current pandemic. She described how her hospital is using virtual reality as a tool to provide realistic, accessible and effective education to medical students during one of the most challenging times for healthcare educators in history.
The three concluded the presentation by sharing lessons learned and advice for nurses interested in becoming involved in innovation or innovative processes. This is a presentation you don’t want to miss! It is both inspiring and motivating. Access it here.