An invention of clinicians in Tayside that makes it safer for those performing life-saving CPR has been shown to reduce the risk of aerosol transmission of covid and other infections by more than 99%.

The Safer Airway Resuscitation (SARUS) CPR hood is a lightweight easy-to-use hood that fits over the head of somebody who has gone into cardiac arrest. An integrated mask allows the patient to receive oxygen but prevents exhaled air reaching people around them.

Designed by NHS Tayside Medical Director Professor Peter Stonebridge at the height of the pandemic, the hood reduces delays created by responders having to put on PPE before being able to begin chest compressions.

Professor Stonebridge’s prototype was further developed by NHS Tayside ear, nose and throat surgeon Rodney Mountain.

Now, a study published in the Scottish Medical Journal, designed to test the device in the hands of both novice and expert resuscitators, has found use of the hood saw “aerosol transmission reduced in the breathing zone” and that laboratory analysis showed a more than 99% reduction of saline particles, used as a proxy for water vapour in breath, detected above volunteers wearing the hood.

The paper concludes that the SARUS-CPR hood “removes uncertainty in the mind of the first responder and allows them to act quickly and safely while awaiting input from an experienced ambulance or hospital-based CPR team wearing full AGP (Aerosol Generating Procedures) PPE”.

Professor Stonebridge passed on a prototype of his design to InnoScot Health (previously Scottish Health Innovations (SHIL)) and performance manufacturer Keela Outdoors, who designed and developed the final product.

The device has received a positive report from Scotland's independent health technology assessment watchdog, the Scottish Health Technologies Group.

Professor Stonebridge welcomed the findings of the study:

“The Scottish Medical Journal paper conclusively validates everything we’ve believed prior to this point – that the SARUS-CPR hood significantly reduces the chances of virus transmission in dangerous, time-poor CPR situations. It is a highly effective and timely pandemic-led innovation that will now only continue to develop.”

Rodney Mountain, NHS Tayside clinical lead for the project, added:

"This has been a genuinely collaborative effort between NHS Tayside, InnoScot Health, and Keela and it’s exciting to now see its true efficacy highlighted in detail in the Scottish Medical Journal.”

Head of Innovation at InnoScot Health, Robert Rea, said the publication of the study is an important milestone:

“It’s great to see just how far the hood has already come in a short space of time and we’re incredibly proud of our intellectual property and commercialisation expertise contributing to its success. With the publication of this paper providing a fresh platform on which to build, we’re certain that it will now go from strength to strength.”

Read more: Promoting sustainable healthcare; ‘Life-saving’ new kit to transform covid CPR care; Insight: Harnessing the pandemic innovation surge

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