A hypermedia expert system for advanced cardiac life support management

摘要

A hypermedia expert system was developed to assist in diagnosing and recommending treatment for cardiac arrhythmia on space station freedom and to serve as a supplemental tool for training and retraining the crew in the practice of advanced cardiac life support (ACLS) protocols. The system includes five modules: ACLS expert system module, database module, reference-materials module, hypermedia instruction module, and friendly user interface module designed for the use of both the expert and the novice. More than 100 test scenarios adapted from ACLS mega code review study cards were used to validate the system and the results were satisfactory. Two experiments were also conducted to demonstrate the effectiveness of the system as a performance aid and supplemental training tool. Results indicated that the subjects' performance improved significantly after consulting the system. The subjects also reached an acceptable level of performance after receiving 40–60 minutes training via the system. In conclusion, this system has been found to be an excellent ACLS supplemental training tool and performance aid and can also serve as a model and building block for developing a more advanced state of the art time-constrained decision support system.