Out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. Evaluation of one year of activity in Saint-Etienne's emergency medical system using the Utstein style

Objective: to provide researchers with a description of the method of dealing with out-of-hospital cardiac arrests, and the results thereof, using the Utstein style. Design: a series of out-of-hospital cardiac arrests between 1 October 1991 and 31 September 1992. Setting: a French 'departement' (administrative subdivision). Population: 570 000 inhabitants; area: 2600 km(2); emergency medical system consisting of two levels of response: the Emergency and Resuscitation Mobile Unit and the Fire Service. Patients: a sample of 380 patients found to have neither palpable pulse nor independent respiration. Results: of the 234 (61%) patients in whom resuscitation was attempted, 41 (17%) were hospitalised and 12 (5%) discharged were still alive at 1 year follow-up. Of the patients who showed signs of cardiac arrest of cardiac aetiology, classified as having initial ventricular fibrillation (VF) rhythms: 62% of the cases (5/8) were alive at 1 year if the cardiac arrest occurred in the presence of emergency medical personnel; 6% of the cases (2/31) were alive at 1 year if the cardiac arrest occurred in the presence of non-specialised bystanders.