Background and Objectives  Emergency situations often elicit a generous response from the public. This occurred after attacks on the US on September 11, 2001 when many new blood donors lined up to donate. This study was performed to compare return rates for first time donors (FTD) after September 11th, 2001 to FTD during a comparable period in 2000. Materials and Methods  A total of 3315 allogeneic whole blood donations from FTD at a regional blood centre were collected between September 11th and 30th, 2001. Subsequent donations by the FTD before March 31, 2002 were reviewed. This (test) group was compared to 1279 FTD (control group) donating during the same time period in September 2000 and to their return rate in the subsequent 6 months. Results  Following September 11, 2001, 1087/3315 (32·8%) FTD returned by March 31, 2002. This return rate was similar to the control group [427/1279 (33·4%)]. The deferral rate during the donor screening process for the control group was significantly higher than the deferral rate for the September 11–30, 2001 group (P < 0·01). The odds of an individual FTD returning increased with age, and the chance of a female donor returning was 1·13 times higher than a male (P = 0·06). There was a carryover effect after September 11, 2001 too. Conclusion  A national emergency, September 11, 2001, inspired people to donate blood for the first time. However, the proportion of return donations amongst them was not increased. Females and males in certain age groups were more likely to become repeat donors due to the residual effect of September 11, 2001. Additional efforts are needed to retain eligible FTD in donor pools.

Objective Define the frequency and survival pattern of cardiac arrests in relation to the hospital day of event and etiology of arrest. Subject and methods Retrospective cohort study of adult in-hospital cardiac arrests between July 1, 2005, and June 30, 2013, that were classified by etiology of deterioration. Arrests were divided based on hospital day (HD) of event (HD1, HD2–7, HD>7 days), and analysis of frequency was performed. The primary outcome of survival to discharge and secondary outcomes of return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC) and favorable neurological outcomes were compared using multivariable logistic regression analysis. Results A total of 627 cases were included, 193 (30.8%) cases in group HD1, 206 (32.9%) in HD2–7, and 228 (36.4%) in HD>7. Etiology of arrest demonstrated variability across the groups (p < 0.001). Arrests due to ventilation issues increased in frequency with longer hospitalization (p < 0.001) while arrests due to dysrhythmia had the opposite trend (p = 0.014). Rates of survival to discharge (p = 0.038) and favorable neurological outcomes (p = 0.002) were lower with increasing hospital days while ROSC was not different among the groups (p = 0.183). Survival was highest for HD1 (HD1: 38.9% [95% CI, 32.0–45.7%], p = 0.002 vs HD2–7: 34.0% [95% CI, 27.5–40.4%], p < 0.001 vs HD>7: 27.2% [95% CI, 21.4–33.0%], p < 0.001). Conclusions The etiology of cardiac arrests varies in frequency as length of hospitalization increases. Survival rates and favorable neurological outcomes are lower for in-hospital arrests occurring later in the hospitalization, even when adjusted for age, sex, and location of event. Understanding these issues may help with focusing therapies and accurate prognostication.

PEDS without progression to SZ occurred in 7 patients with onset 23 (range 11-44) hours post ROSC, and 74 patients (81%) had no SZ or PEDS. Seizures and PEDS were generalized in all patients. 80% of SZ patients were treated with benzodiazepines, fosphenytoin, levetiracetam, or valproic acid beginning 10 (3-20) hours after onset, and controlled in 25% of treated patients. GO occurred in 38% of the total cohort, 65% who met HACA criteria, but 0% of SZ and 14% of PEDS patients. Conclusions: Epileptiform activity occurred in 18.7% and SZ in 10% of TH patients after cardiac arrest, with onset delayed nearly 24 hours. All activity was generalized, and detectable with simplified frontotemporal EEG monitoring. Anti-epileptic medications were started late. Although SZ were controlled in 25% of those treated, no patient with SZ or PEDS made a good recovery.

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