CPR scribing
CPR scribing without the usual documentation failures
Most arrest records fail in the same three ways: drifted timestamps, missed drug doses, and a summary nobody can read at handover. A structured digital scribing workflow removes the conditions that cause each of them.
What you get
- Timestamps that don't driftEvery event is captured against the device's monotonic clock at the moment it is tapped — not back-filled at the end of the cycle from memory.
- Drug-overdue prompts that escalateAdrenaline turns amber at 3 minutes since the last dose and red at 5. Skipping a dose requires a reason; quietly missing one is structurally hard.
- Visible, auditable correctionsTimes and rhythms can be amended during the arrest. Every amendment keeps the original value so the PDF tells the truth about the record.
- Same interface in training and live useALS and ILS courses use the same app candidates will see on the ward, so the skill transfers without a relearning curve.
Three failure modes paper scribing keeps producing
Audit and simulation studies of in-hospital cardiac arrest documentation keep finding the same three problems. Times are estimated, often to the nearest 5 minutes, because the scribe was writing during compressions and looked at the wall clock between events. Drugs are missed, usually adrenaline doses 4 and 5, because the scribe lost count and had no visual cue. The handover summary is incomplete because nobody totalled the drugs or counted the shocks before the team dispersed.
Each of these is solved by changing the workflow, not by trying harder. A button that timestamps itself eliminates time drift. A status panel that escalates the visual urgency of an overdue drug eliminates miss-counting. A PDF that is ready the moment the timer stops eliminates the incomplete handover.
Why structured input beats free text in a resus
A blank text box during an arrest is hostile. The scribe has to choose a verb, a tense, an abbreviation, and a level of detail — all under cognitive load. The result is short, inconsistent, and often unreadable.
Structured input — labelled buttons for the events that recur, a constrained drop-down for rhythm, a numeric stepper for shock energy — removes those choices. Free text is reserved for the genuinely unique ('family in room', 'arterial line attempted L radial', 'discussion with on-call cardiology'), where the cost of a few seconds of typing is justified.
What good scribing looks like, captured by the app
A well-scribed arrest has a complete timeline of every shock, every drug, every rhythm change, and every key intervention; a clear total of drugs administered and shocks delivered; an honest record of pauses and reasons; and an outcome line with time and decision-maker.
The PDF this app produces hits each of those marks by construction. The scribe does not have to remember to total the drugs at the end, because the totals are computed live. They do not have to write a summary, because the export is the summary. Their job during the arrest is the part only a human can do: watching the team, prompting the leader, and tapping the right button at the right second.
Frequently asked
- What are the most common scribing errors?
- Three keep appearing in audit: rounded or back-filled timestamps, missing one or more doses of adrenaline from the log, and an illegible or incomplete summary at handover. All three are workflow failures, not effort failures.
- How does the app prevent missed adrenaline doses?
- The drug status panel shows the time since the last dose and turns amber at 3 minutes, red at 5. A missed dose is hard to ignore because the prompt does not go away until either adrenaline is logged or the team explicitly skips it with a reason.
- Can the timestamps be edited after the fact?
- Times can be corrected during the arrest (e.g. 'shock 2 was 30 seconds earlier than I tapped it') but every correction is itself logged with the original value. The PDF makes any edits transparent.
- Is this useful for resus training?
- Yes. The app is widely used in ALS and ILS courses to practise the scribe role under realistic time pressure. The same interface is used in real arrests so the skill transfers.
CPR Scribe runs in the browser, installs to your home screen, and works offline. No account needed to start — sign in only if you want to save records.