SHORT TAKES

Trial of the heart

Don’t miss your chance to weigh in on what’s best for your heart in a crisis.

Later this month, researchers at the University of Washington hope to launch a public clinical trial on people receiving emergency care for cardiac arrest. Unlike today’s standard treatment, in which giving a defibrilator shock is the first priority, says UW lead investigator Peter Kudenchuk, Medic One teams in King County will try out two new treatments.

Some patients will get CPR first, followed by a shock, Kudenchuk says. Some of the CPR masks will also have a fist-sized breathing regulator valve added to them to help raise a patient’s circulation and blood pressure.

Before Medic One can start the trial, the researchers need to satisfy the UW’s Human Subjects Review Committee that they have given the public sufficient notice of the study — a process that takes the place of individual consent in large public trials such as this one, which is part of a national, $50 million study on resuscitation outcomes.

Last fall, the UW and Medic One kicked off a separate study of different saline solutions that are expected to be tried on about 500 accident or trauma victims in King County. Kudenchuk plans to wrap up the public outreach on the cardiac trial next week. It could include 500 to 1,000 people countywide.

He stresses that the CPR valve has already been tested for safety; it’s just a question of whether it or trying CPR first will increase survival time. “We don’t know if it will save lives,” Kudenchuk says. “We think it will, but we don’t know.”

The UW is taking comments on the trial at (206)447-5671. For more information, go to www.uwheartroc.org .

A violent toll

The numbers are down but remain grim for the victims and perpetrators of domestic violence. Between mid-2004 and mid-2006, a new report shows that 113 women and men lost their lives to domestic violence in Washington state, whether by direct assault, by suicide, or by police action.

That includes 48 women who were killed by a current or former boyfriend or husband, 26 men who ended their own lives in the wake of a battering or attempted murder, four men shot by police, and 10 children killed by male abusers.

The statistics, from the latest Domestic Violence Fatality Review conducted by the Washington State Coalition Against Domestic Violence, also show how the circle of violence extends to others: Five new boyfriends, three family members or friends, one co-worker, and one police officer died at the hands of irate male abusers.

In 2005, the report notes, half the women murdered in Washington state were victims of a current or former male partner, with the report offering recommendations on how to prevent such tragedies at every level, from the legislature to police, judges and mental health professionals.

Since 1997, when the coalition began issuing its biannual review, a total of 359 people have lost their lives in domestic violence incidents, most commonly involving guns, knives, or automobiles. While domestic violence homicides dropped statewide between 2005 and 2006 — from 45 to 9 — the report shows that such murders have ranged between 30 and 48 a year for the past decade.

It’s just a reminder that it’s “an issue the entire community needs to respond to,” the coalition’s Kelly Starr says. “Each and every one of us needs to learn how to help someone experiencing domestic violence.”

—Cydney Gillis