Can the value of end tidal CO2 prognosticate ROSC in patients coming into emergency department with an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OOHCA)?

A short cut review was carried out to establish whether end tidal CO 2 can be used to prognosticate in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. 232 papers were found of which 4 presented the best evidence to answer the clinical question. The author, date and country of publication, patient group studied, study type, relevant outcomes, results and study weaknesses of these best papers are tabulated. The clinical bottom line is that a single end tidal CO 2 reading cannot be used as an indicator to terminate resuscitation attempts in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest.