Cold Debriefings after In-hospital Cardiac Arrest in an International Pediatric Resuscitation Quality Improvement Collaborative

INTRODUCTION: Clinical event debriefing functions to identify optimal and suboptimal performance to improve future performance. “Cold” debriefing (CD), or debriefing performed more than 1 day after an event, was reported to improve patient survival in a single institution. We sought to describe the frequency and content of CD across multiple pediatric centers. METHODS: Mixed-methods, a retrospective review of prospectively collected in-hospital cardiac arrest (IHCA) data, and a supplemental survey of 18 international institutions in the Pediatric Resuscitation Quality (pediRES-Q) collaborative. Data from 283 IHCA events reported between February 2016 and April 2018 were analyzed. We used a Plus/Delta framework to collect debriefing content and performed a qualitative analysis utilizing a modified Team Emergency Assessment Measurement Framework. Univariate and regression models were applied, accounting for clustering by site. RESULTS: CD occurred in 33% (93/283) of IHCA events. Median time to debriefing was 26 days [IQR 11, 41] with a median duration of 60 minutes [20, 60]. Attendance was variable across sites (profession, number per debriefing): physicians 12 [IQR 4, 20], nurses 1 [1, 6], respiratory therapists 0 [0, 1], and administrators 1 [0, 1]. “Plus” comments reported per event were most commonly clinical standards 47% (44/93), cooperation 29% (27/93), and communication 17% (16/93). “Delta” comments were in similar categories: clinical standards 44% (41/93), cooperation 26% (24/93), and communication 14% (13/93). CONCLUSIONS: CDs were performed after 33% of cardiac arrests in this multicenter pediatric IHCA collaborative. The majority of plus and delta comments could be categorized as clinical standards, cooperation and communication.