Rinse Trial: The Rapid Infusion of Cold Normal Saline by paramedics during CPR (Western Australia)

Sudden cardiac arrest is a common event in the community. Therapeutic hypothermia decreases the brain injury caused by the cardiac arrest and is currently used in the hospital after successful resuscitation. However, there may be better outcomes if the brain is cooled by paramedics during resuscitation. We will compare survival rates for those patients cooled early by paramedics using an infusion of ice-saline during cardiac arrest with those patients who are later cooled by the hospital.

Chief Investigator:

Associate Professor Steve Bernard (Monash Uni) – CIA;
Professor Peter Cameron (Monash Uni) – CIB;
Professor Ian Jacobs (Curtin Uni) – CIC;
Dr Karen Smith (Ambulance Victoria) – CID and
Professor Judith Finn (Curtin Uni) – CIE

Associate Investigators:

Dr Janet Bray
Dr Conor Deasy
Dr Linton Harriss
Mr Kevin Masci
Professor Hugh Grantham (South Australia)
Dr Cindy Hein (South Australia)

Year commenced: 2011

Year Completed (or in progress/ongoing): 2016

Funding: NHMRC Project grant: 1010613; $677,888

Ethics Approval: RA/4/1/4677 – 8 June, 2011

Duration: 4 years

Overview:

Researchers will conduct a randomised, controlled trial to determine whether paramedics inducing therapeutic hypothermia (cooling) in patients with sudden out−of−hospital cardiac arrest during the performance of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), improves survival outcomes at hospital discharge compared with standard care (which is inducing the induction of therapeutic hypothermia (cooling patients) in the Emergency Department – usually involving either cold saline; cold packs applied to the body; or a combination of both.

This study is a multi-centre NHMRC funded project – administered through the Monash University Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine (CIA= Assoc. Professor Stephen Bernard) – with study sites in Victoria (Victoria Ambulance + Monash Uni); South Australia (South Australia Ambulance Service + Flinders Uni) and Western Australia (Curtin University and St John Ambulance – Western Australia).

Status: Completed

Contact Person: Professor Judith Finn – email: judith.finn@curtin.edu.au

Publication:

  1. Bernard SA, Smith K, Finn J, Hein C, Grantham H, Bray JE, Deasy C, Stephenson M, Williams TA, Straney LD, Brink D, Larsen R, Cotton C, Cameron P, Induction of Therapeutic Hypothermia During Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest Using Rapid Infusion of Cold Saline: The RINSE Trial (Rapid Infusion of Cold Normal Saline), Circulation. 2016; 134(11):797-805.

Journal article can be found here.