SPIDERMAN
Research type
Research Study
Full title
pre-hoSPItal ranDomised trial of infusion vERsus MANual push adrenaline in adult patients with return of spontaneous circulation after out of hospital cardiac arrest: a feasibility trial
IRAS ID
369052
Contact name
Karl Charlton
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
North East Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
N/A, Royal College of Paramedics' Research Database
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 3 months, 31 days
Research summary
A cardiac arrest occurs when the heart suddenly stops beating. NHS ambulance services attend approximately 30,000 such incidents annually to provide a treatment called resuscitation. Some patients respond to resuscitation, which means that their heart starts beating again.
When this happens patients often need to receive frequent doses of a drug called adrenaline which helps maintain their pulse and blood pressure and improves the chances of survival. This is delivered by the paramedic usually via a cannula inserted into a vein. It can be difficult to deliver this drug accurately, on time and safely in a moving ambulance during the journey to hospital. An alternative way to deliver adrenaline on the way to hospital would be to use a pump called an infusion. This means that the patient would receive a continuous dose of adrenaline via a cannula inserted into a vein driven by the infusion rather than manually by the paramedic. However, it is unknown if this method is practical in an ambulance and there is no evidence it will improve the chances of the patient surviving.
The aim of this trial is to find out if giving adrenaline manually or via an infusion is the most effective way to treat someone when their heart has restarted after resuscitation and whether it makes a difference to how well people recover after cardiac arrest. NHS Specialist Paramedics in Critical Care in North East Ambulance Service will recruit 300 patients to the trial - half will receive adrenaline manually and half will receive adrenaline via infusion. This will be decided by chance. This is known as a randomised controlled trial and is the best way of finding out which treatment is most effective. We will follow-up patients that survive their cardiac arrest to see how they well they recover.REC name
Yorkshire & The Humber - Leeds West Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
26/YH/0075
Date of REC Opinion
27 Apr 2026
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion