Outcome of out-of-hospital cardiorespiratory arrest in South Glamorgan

During 138 weeks an emergency medical service (EMS) of mixed skill-level attempted to resuscitate 954 patients from prehospital cardiac arrest (883 attempts per million population per year); 75% of the arrests were of cardiac cause. This paper is one of the first analyses from europe to use the 'Utstein template' to report outcomes of such arrests. In cases where an arrest rhythm could be recorded, 38.4% were ventricular fibrillation (VF), 45.5% were asystolic, and the remainder were either electromechanical dissociation or respiratory arrests. Using univariate analysis factors associated with a greater likelihood of survival include the presence of a witness, bystander-initiated cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), early CPR and VF as the arrest rhythm. Twenty of 155 cases (13%) survived where VF arrest was witnessed by non-EMS personnel. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd.