Inappropriate Shock Delivery Is Common During Pediatric In-Hospital Cardiac Arrest

To characterize inappropriate shock delivery during pediatric in-hospital cardiac arrest (IHCA).Retrospective cohort study.An international pediatric cardiac arrest quality improvement collaborative Pediatric Resuscitation Quality [pediRES-Q].All IHCA events from 2015 to 2020 from the pediRES-Q Collaborative for which shock and electrocardiogram waveform data were available.None.We analyzed 418 shocks delivered during 159 cardiac arrest events, with 381 shocks during 158 events at 28 sites remaining after excluding undecipherable rhythms. We classified shocks as: 1) appropriate (ventricular fibrillation [VF] or wide complex ≥ 150/min); 2) indeterminate (narrow complex ≥ 150/min or wide complex 100-149/min); or 3) inappropriate (asystole, sinus, narrow complex < 150/min, or wide complex < 100/min) based on the rhythm immediately preceding shock delivery. Of delivered shocks, 57% were delivered appropriately for VF or wide complex rhythms with a rate greater than or equal to 150/min. Thirteen percent were classified as indeterminate. Thirty percent were delivered inappropriately for asystole (6.8%), sinus (3.1%), narrow complex less than 150/min (11%), or wide complex less than 100/min (8.9%) rhythms. Eighty-eight percent of all shocks were delivered in ICUs or emergency departments, and 30% of those were delivered inappropriately.The rate of inappropriate shock delivery for pediatric IHCA in this international cohort is at least 30%, with 23% delivered to an organized electrical rhythm, identifying opportunity for improvement in rhythm identification training.