Emergency treatment research will include Genesis patients

DAVENPORT, IOWA - Genesis Medical Center, Davenport will soon participate in two University of Iowa research studies for people in out-of-hospital, emergency settings. One study involves people with severe trauma; the other involves people who suffer cardiac arrest.

These studies potentially could involve individuals who live, work or travel in the area unless they pre-exclude themselves or “optout.”

The studies are part of the Resuscitation Outcomes Consortium (ROC) and are funded by the National Institutes of Health and other U.S. federal and Canadian agencies. The trauma study treatment involves an investigational fluid called hypertonic saline. It is not a blood product.

The cardiac study has two parts. The first treatment focuses on a device that increases blood flow during cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). The second treatment focuses on the amount of CPR delivered before EMS providers check the heart rhythm to determine if electrical shock is needed.

By law and medical ethics, participants in a medical study must consciously agree, or consent, to be in it. These studies will involve people who will be unconscious or in shock, but federal rules allow for special exception from the consent process in life-threatening situations. Instead, consent will be obtained after treatment, when the person is no longer in the emergency situation, or when a legally authorized representative of the injured person is available.

The area communities included in these ROC studies are: Bettendorf, Blue Grass, Buffalo, Davenport, Dixon, Donahue, Eldridge, Le Claire, Long Grove, Maysville, McCausland, Pleasant Valley, Princeton, Riverdale and Walcott.

For more information or to obtain a wristband or wallet card to opt out of the study, visit www.iowarocs.org, send email to iowarocs@uiowa.edu or call toll free 866-309-0838 or 319-384-8484.

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