Most survival outcomes in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) are provided by emergency medical services (EMS) without a doctor on board. Our objective was to determine such outcomes in a whole country with public physician-led EMS.
Methods: We analyzed data from a nationwide prospective registry of OHCA cases attended by 19 public EMS in Spain, covering the period from 1-October 2013 to 30-October 2014.
Results: Advanced life support (ALS) was initiated in 9347 cases (incidence 18.6 cases/105 inhabitants per year). Resuscitation was considered futile in 558 cases (5.9%), and ALS was continued in 8789 cases (94.1%); mean age 63.5±17 years, 72.1% men. Initial rhythm was shockable in 22.1% of cases. Basic life support (BLS) was provided by bystanders in 1602 (24%) cases (635 of them with telephone assistance from the dispatch center). Of 8789 patients receiving ALS, 72.1% men, 2669 (30.4%) patients had return of spontaneous circulation on hospital arrival, 50.6% when the initial rhythm was shockable. Hospital discharge with good neurological status (CPC1-2) was found in 11.1% of the study population and in 27.6% when considering the Utstein comparator group of patients. A total of 216 (2.5%) patients arrived at the hospital with ongoing resuscitation, of whom only one survived with CPC1-2, and 165 (1.9%) patients were included in non-heart-beating donation programs.
Conclusions: In Spain with physician-led EMS, OHCA survival with CPC1-2 reached a reasonable percentage despite only a modest contribution of bystander BLS. Ongoing resuscitation strategy seems to be futile except when considering non-heart beating donation programs.
Keywords: Emergency medical services; Out-of-hospital cardiac arrest; Physician on board; Survival.
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