Procedure station 1.
Candidates were expected to demonstrate that they could safely direct management of a cardiac arrest, including defibrillation.
Introductory material was:
"You have been called to a cardiac arrest on a general medical ward of your hospital. A 55 year old lady was admitted with chest pain and subsequently had a sudden loss of consciousness. The anaesthetic resident and coronary care nurse are at the bedside when you arrive. You will be running her cardiac arrest management."
Fourteen out of sixteen candidates passed this station.
Disclaimer: the viva stem above may be an original CICM stem, acquired from their publicly available past papers. Or, perhaps it is a slightly altered version of the original CICM stem. Or, it is a completely original viva stem, concocted by the monstrously amoral author of Deranged Physiology for nothing more than his own personal amusement. In either case, because the college do not make the main viva text or marking criteria available, almost everything here has been confabulated. It might sound like a plausible viva and it could be used for the purpose of practice, but all should be aware that it does not represent the "true" canonical CICM viva station.