Impact of the Organization of the First Responders in the Remote Areas on Cardiac Arrest Victim Survival

Study Overview
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Brief Summary
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Emergency medical services (EMS) provide emergency care not only in the urban but also in the remote areas which could be up to 40 minutes from the EMS station. Thus, a cardiac arrest victim in those remote areas has a low likelihood to survive the cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Therefore, we have organized first responders (who are mostly volunteer fire-fighters) in the remote areas and taught them how to perform basic life support (BLS) with use of an automated external defibrillator (AED). In the case of a cardiac arrest the medical dispatcher activates simultaneously the EMS and the first responders, who perform the BLS with the use of an AED before the arrival of EMS. The aim of the study is to analyze and compare the survival of the cardiac arrest victims in remote areas in the time period when the first responders were not organized yet compared to the time period when the first responders were activated to perform BLS.

Official Title
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Impact of the Organization of the First Responders in the Remote Areas on Cardiac Arrest Victim Survival: an Utstein Analysis

Conditions
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Cardiac Arrest, Sudden

Intervention / Treatment
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* Other: Basic life support witn use of an AED before EMS


Participation Criteria
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Eligibility Criteria
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Inclusion Criteria: cardiac arrest in adult victims Exclusion Criteria: cardiac arrest in pediatric population

Ages Eligible for Study
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Minimum Age: 18 Years

Sexes Eligible for Study
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All

Study Plan
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How is the study designed?
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Arms and Interventions

| Participant Group/Arm | Intervention/Treatment |
| --- | --- |
| First responder group<br>Cardiac arrest victims in remote areas resuscitated by the first responders before the arrival of the EMS. | Other: Basic life support witn use of an AED before EMS<br>* BLS performance with use of an AED before arrival of EMS<br>|
| EMS groups<br>Cardiac arrest victims in remote areas resuscitated by the EMS. | |

What is the study measuring?
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Primary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC) | The number of patients who gained the ROSC. | 5 years | 
| Survival to hospital discharge | The number of patients who survived to hospital discharge. | 5 years | 
| Neurological outcome | The number of patients with good neurological outcome assessed with cerebral performance score (CPC 1-2). | 5 years | 

Secondary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Survival till hospital admission | The number of patients who survived to hospital admission. | 5 years | 
| 30 day survival | The number of patients who survived first 30 days after cardiac arrest. | 5 years | 

 Terms related to the study
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Keywords Provided by Centre Hospitalier Valida
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cardiac arrest, cardiopulmonary resuscitation, automated external defibrillator, first responders