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Background Sudden cardiac death remains a leading cause of mortality in Canada, resulting in more than 35,000 deaths annually. Most cardiac arrest victims collapse in their own home (85% of the time) and 50% are witnessed by a family member or bystander. Survivors have a quality of life similar to the general population, but the overall survival rate for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) rarely exceeds 8%. Victims are almost four times more likely to survive when receiving bystander CPR, but bystander CPR rates have remained low in Canada over the past decade, not exceeding 15–25% until recently. Telecommunication-assisted CPR instructions have been shown to significantly increase bystander CPR rates, but agonal breathing may be misinterpreted as a sign of life by 9–1-1 callers and telecommunicators, and is responsible for as much as 50% of missed OHCA diagnoses. We sought to improve the ability and speed with which ambulance telecommunicators can recognize OHCA over the phone, initiate timely CPR instructions, and improve survival. Methods In this multi-center national study, we will implement and evaluate an educational program developed for ambulance telecommunicators using a multiple baseline interrupted time-series design. We will compare outcomes 12 months before and after the implementation of a 20-min theory-based educational video addressing barriers to recognition of OHCA while in the presence of agonal breathing. Participating Canadian sites demonstrated prior ability to collect standardized data on OHCA. Data will be collected from eligible 9–1-1 recordings, paramedic documentation and hospital medical records. Eligible cases will include suspected or confirmed OHCA of presumed cardiac origin in patients of any age with attempted resuscitation. Discussion The ability of telecommunication-assisted CPR instructions to improve bystander CPR and survival rates for OHCA victims is undeniable. The ability of telecommunicators to recognize OHCA over the phone is unequivocally impeded by relative lack of training on agonal breathing, and reluctance to initiate CPR instructions when in doubt. Our pilot data suggests the potential impact of this project will be to increase absolute OHCA recognition and bystander CPR rates by at least 10%, and absolute out-of-hospital cardiac arrest survival by 5% or more. Trial registration Prospectively registered on March 28, 2019 at ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT03894059.

International audience; France and Canada prehospital systems and care delivery in out-of-hospital cardiac arrests (OHCAs) show substantial differences. This article aims to describe the rationale, design, implementation and expected research implications of the international, population-based, France-Canada registry for OHCAs, namely ReACanROC, which is built from the merging of two nation-wide, population-based, Utstein-style prospectively implemented registries for OHCAs attended to by emergency medical services. Under the supervision of an international steering committee and research network, the ReACanROC dataset will be used to run in-depth analyses on the differences in organisational, practical and geographic predictors of survival after OHCA between France and Canada. ReACanROC is the first Europe-North America registry ever created to meet this goal. To date, it covers close to 80 million people over the two countries, and includes approximately 200 000 cases over a 10-year period.

Objectives: We evaluated the effect of sex and age on out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) outcomes in a Canadian population. Methods: This study was a retrospective analysis of the British Columbia (BC) Cardiac Arrest Registry (2011–16). We included adult, non-traumatic, EMS-treated OHCA. We stratified the cohort into four groups by age and sex: younger females (18–47 years of age), younger males (18–47 years of age), older females, and older males (>53 years old). We used logistic regression to examine the effect of sex and interaction effect of sex and age on ROSC and survival to hospital discharge. Results: We included 8115 patients; 31.4% were females. Females had a lower proportion of OHCA in public locations, bystander witnessed arrests, and with initial shockable rhythms. Overall, females had greater adjusted odds of ROSC (OR 1.29, 95% CI 1.15–1.42, p < 0.001). The ROSC advantage was significant in females with non-shockable rhythms (OR 1.48, 95% CI 1.24–1.78, p < 0.001) and females of premenopausal age. However, there was no significant difference in survival to hospital discharge between females and males overall or by sex-age groups. Both younger females and younger males have higher odds of survival to hospital discharge compared to older females and males. Older females had the lowest survival rate among all other sex-age groups. Conclusions: Female sex was associated with ROSC but not survival to hospital discharge. In the post-arrest phase, females, specifically those in the older age group, had a higher death rate, demonstrating the need for sex- and age-specific research in pre-and-post-OHCA care.

The British Columbia Emergency Medicine Network (EM Network) has collaborated with patient partners to utilize their experiential knowledge to inform planning and implementation. Patient partners participated in several EM Network committees and initiatives. This study evaluated how patient partners and other leaders in the EM Network perceived patient engagement efforts 1 year after launch. The Public and Patient Engagement Evaluation Tool V2.0 found that there was an appropriate level of patient engagement at this early stage, an opportunity to attract more patient partners as the EM Network grows, and a need to ensure adequate resources to support more activities.

Introduction: Out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) survival varies greatly between communities. The Utstein template was developed and promulgated to improve the comparability of OHCA outcome reports, but it has undergone limited empiric validation. We sought to assess how much of the variation in OHCA survival between emergency medical services (EMS) across the globe is explained by differences in the Utstein factors. We also assessed how accurately the Utstein factors predict OHCA survival. Methods: We performed a retrospective analysis of patient-level prospectively collected data from 12 OHCA registries from 12 countries for the period 1 Jan 2006 through 31 Dec 2011. We used generalized linear mixed models to examine the variation in survival between EMS agencies (n = 232). Results: Twelve registries contributed 86,759 cases. Patient arrest characteristics, EMS treatment and patient outcomes varied across registries. Overall survival to hospital discharge was 10% (range, 6% to 22%). Overall survival with Cerebral Performance Category of 1 or 2 (available for 8/12 registries) was 8%(range, 2% to 20%). The area-under-the-curve for the Utstein model was 0.85 (Wald CI: 0.85-0.85). The Utstein factors explained 51% of the EMS agency variation in OHCA survival. Conclusions: The Utstein factors explained 51%. of the variation in survival to hospital discharge among multiple large geographically separate EMS agencies. This suggests that quality improvement and public health efforts should continue to target modifiable Utstein factors to improve OHCA survival. Further study is required to identify the reasons for the variation that is incompletely understood.

Background Targeted temperature management (TTM) is a recommended treatment modality to improve neurological outcomes in patients with out‐of‐hospital cardiac arrest. The impact of the duration from hospital admission to TTM initiation (door‐to‐TTM; DTT) on clinical outcomes has not been well elucidated. We hypothesized that shorter DTT initiation intervals would be associated with improved survival with favorable neurological outcome. Methods and Results We performed a post hoc analysis of nontraumatic paramedic‐treated out‐of‐hospital cardiac arrests. The primary outcome was favorable neurological status at hospital discharge, with a secondary outcome of survival to discharge. We fit a logistic regression analysis to determine the association of early compared with delayed DTT, dichotomized by the median DTT duration, and outcomes. Of 3805 patients enrolled in the CCC (Continuous Chest Compressions) Trial in British Columbia, 570 were included in this analysis. There was substantial variation in DTT among patients receiving TTM. The median DTT duration was 122 minutes (interquartile range 35‐218). Favorable neurological outcomes in the early and delayed DTT groups were 48% and 38%, respectively. Compared with delayed DTT (interquartile range 167‐319 minutes), early DTT (interquartile range 20‐81 minutes) was associated with survival (adjusted odds ratio 1.56, 95% CI 1.02‐2.38) but not with favorable neurological outcomes (adjusted odds ratio 1.45, 95% CI, 0.94‐2.22) at hospital discharge. Conclusions There was wide variability in the initiation of TTM among comatose out‐of‐hospital cardiac arrest survivors. Initiation of TTM within 122 minutes of hospital admission was associated with improved survival. These results support in‐hospital efforts to achieve early DTT among out‐of‐hospital cardiac arrest patients admitted to the hospital., See Editorial Schenone and Menon

Objective The “Trial of Continuous (CCC) or Interrupted Chest Compressions (ICC) during Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR)” compared two CPR strategies for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA). Although results were neutral, there was suggestion of benefit for ICC. However, nearly 50% of study patients had a protocol violation; regional variations may have played a role in protocol adherence and outcomes. We analyzed our British Colombia (BC) cohort to decide whether a protocol change from CCC to ICC was justified. Methods This was a post-hoc analysis of BC-enrolled study patients. The primary between-group comparison was favorable neurological outcome (modified Rankin scale ≤ 3) using intention-to-treat. Secondary analyses compared those treated per-protocol (adjusted) and the top compliant clusters (unadjusted). We classified protocol violations using a structured algorithm. We used logistic regression and computed the difference in probabilities using the marginal standardization method with bootstrapping to calculate confidence intervals. Results There were 3769 patients included, with a median age of 69 years (IQR: 56–80). There were protocol violations in 3.2% of those in the CCC group and 27% of those in the ICC group. In patients randomized to CCC or ICC, 11.2% and 10.8% (risk difference 0.42%; 95% CI -1.58, 2.41) had favorable neurological outcomes, respectively. In the per-protocol and top compliant clusters comparisons, risk differences were 0.25% (95% CI -1.70, 2.25) and 2.95% (95% CI -0.68, 6.58). Conclusion Our comparisons suggest that CCC may be the preferred strategy in our region and is likely not resulting in worse outcomes. Based on the original study and our local analysis, we found no compelling reasons to change our local strategy from CCC to ICC.

Background: Survival following out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) with shockable rhythms can be improved with early defibrillation. Although shockable OHCA accounts for only ≈25% of overall arrests, ≈60% of public OHCAs are shockable, offering the possibility of restoring thousands of individuals to full recovery with early defibrillation by bystanders. We sought to determine the association of bystander automated external defibrillator use with survival and functional outcomes in shockable observed public OHCA. Methods: From 2011 to 2015, the Resuscitation Outcomes Consortium prospectively collected detailed information on all cardiac arrests at 9 regional centers. The exposures were shock administration by a bystander-applied automated external defibrillator in comparison with initial defibrillation by emergency medical services. The primary outcome measure was discharge with normal or near-normal (favorable) functional status defined as a modified Rankin Score ≤2. Survival to hospital discharge was the secondary outcome measure. Results: Among 49 555 OHCAs, 4115 (8.3%) observed public OHCAs were analyzed, of which 2500 (60.8%) were shockable. A bystander shock was applied in 18.8% of the shockable arrests. Patients shocked by a bystander were significantly more likely to survive to discharge (66.5% versus 43.0%) and be discharged with favorable functional outcome (57.1% versus 32.7%) than patients initially shocked by emergency medical services. After adjusting for known predictors of outcome, the odds ratio associated with a bystander shock was 2.62 (95% confidence interval, 2.07–3.31) for survival to hospital discharge and 2.73 (95% confidence interval, 2.17–3.44) for discharge with favorable functional outcome. The benefit of bystander shock increased progressively as emergency medical services response time became longer. Conclusions: Bystander automated external defibrillator use before emergency medical services arrival in shockable observed public OHCA was associated with better survival and functional outcomes. Continued emphasis on public automated external defibrillator utilization programs may further improve outcomes of OHCA.

Some patients with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) assessed by emergency medical services (EMS) do not receive attempts at resuscitation on the basis of perceived futility.1) To measure variability in the initiation of resuscitation attempts in EMS-assessed OHCA patients across EMS agencies, 2) to evaluate the association between selected EMS agency characteristics and the proportion of patients receiving resuscitation attempts, and 3) to evaluate the association between proportion receiving resuscitation attempts and survival.A retrospective cohort study using data from 129 EMS agencies participating in the Resuscitation Outcomes Consortium (ROC) epidemiologic registry (EPISTRY) - Cardiac Arrest from 12/01/2005 to 12/31/2010. We included non-traumatic OHCA patients assessed by EMS.We included 86,912 OHCA patients. Overall, 54.8% had resuscitation attempted by EMS providers, varying from 23.9% to 100% (p=0.001) across EMS agencies. The proportion of patients receiving a resuscitation attempt was 7.87% less (95% CI 3.73-12.0) among agencies with longer average response intervals (≥6min) compared with shorter average response intervals (6min) and 16.9% less (95% CI 11.9-21.9) among agencies with higher levels of advanced life support (ALS) availability (≥50% of available units) compared with lower levels of ALS availability (50% of available units). There was a moderate positive correlation between the proportion of patients with resuscitation attempts and survival to hospital discharge (r=0.54, p0.001).The proportion of patients with OHCA who receive resuscitation attempts is variable across EMS agencies and is associated with EMS response interval, ALS unit availability and geographic region. On average, survival was higher among EMS agencies more likely to initiate resuscitation.

Outcomes for pediatric out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) are poor. Our objective was to determine temporal trends in incidence and mortality for pediatric OHCA.Adjusted incidence and hospital mortality rates of pediatric non-traumatic OHCA patients from 2007-2012 were analyzed using the 9 region Resuscitation Outcomes Consortium-Epidemiological Registry (ROC-Epistry) database. Children were divided into 4 age groups: perinatal (3 days), infants (3days-1year), children (1-11 years), and adolescents (12-19 years). ROC regions were analyzed post-hoc.We studied 1738 children with OHCA. The age- and sex-adjusted incidence rate of OHCA was 8.3 per 100,000 person-years (75.3 for infants vs. 3.7 for children and 6.3 for adolescents, per 100,000 person-years, p0.001). Incidence rates differed by year (p0.001) without overall linear trend. Annual survival rates ranged from 6.7-10.2%. Survival was highest in the perinatal (25%) and adolescent (17.3%) groups. Stratified by age group, survival rates over time were unchanged (all p0.05) but there was a non-significant linear trend (1.3% increase) in infants. In the multivariable logistic regression analysis, infants, unwitnessed event, initial rhythm of asystole, and region were associated with worse survival, all p0.001. Survival by region ranged from 2.6-14.7%. Regions with the highest survival had more cases of EMS-witnessed OHCA, bystander CPR, and increased EMS-defibrillation (all p0.05).Overall incidence and survival of children with OHCA in ROC regions did not significantly change over a recent 5year period. Regional variation represents an opportunity for further study to improve outcomes.

Study objective Effectiveness of a resuscitation strategy may vary across communities. We hypothesize that a strategy that prioritizes initial emergency medical services (EMS) rhythm analysis (analyze early) will be associated with survival advantage among EMS systems with lower baseline (pretrial) ventricular fibrillation survival, whereas a strategy that prioritizes initial EMS cardiopulmonary resuscitation (analyze late) will be associated with survival advantage among systems with higher ventricular fibrillation baseline survival. Methods We conducted a secondary, post hoc study of a randomized trial of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. Subjects were stratified according to randomization status (analyze early versus analyze late) and EMS agency baseline ventricular fibrillation survival. We used a mixed-effects model to determine whether the association between favorable functional survival to hospital discharge and trial intervention (analyze late versus analyze early) differed according to EMS agency baseline ventricular fibrillation survival ( 20%). Results Characteristics were similar among patients randomized to analyze early (n=4,964) versus analyze late (n=4,426). For EMS agencies with baseline ventricular fibrillation survival less than 20%, analyze late compared with analyze early was associated with a lower likelihood of favorable functional survival (3.8% versus 5.5%; odds ratio [OR]=0.67 [95% CI 0.50, 0.90]). Conversely, among agencies with a ventricular fibrillation survival greater than 20%, analyze late compared with analyze early was associated with higher likelihood of favorable functional survival (7.5% versus 6.1%; OR=1.22 [95% CI 0.98, 1.52]). In the multivariable-adjusted model, for every 10% increase in baseline ventricular fibrillation survival, analyze late versus analyze early was associated with a 34% increase in odds of favorable functional survival (OR=1.34 [95% CI 1.07 to 1.66]). Conclusion The findings suggest that system-level characteristics may influence resuscitation outcomes.

Objective Greater chest compression fraction (CCF, or proportion of CPR time spent providing compressions) is associated with better survival for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OOHCA) patients in ventricular fibrillation (VF). We evaluated the effect of CCF on return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC) in OOHCA patients with non-VF ECG rhythms in the Resuscitation Outcomes Consortium Epistry. Methods This prospective cohort study included OOHCA patients if: not witnessed by EMS, no automated external defibrillator (AED) shock prior to EMS arrival, received >1 min of CPR with CPR process measures available, and initial non-VF rhythm. We reviewed the first 5 min of electronic CPR records following defibrillator application, measuring the proportion of compressions/min during the resuscitation. Results Demographics of 2103 adult patients from 10 U.S. and Canadian centers were: mean age 67.8; male 61.2%; public location 10.6%; bystander witnessed 32.9%; bystander CPR 35.4%; median interval from 911 to defibrillator turned on 8 min:27 s; initial rhythm asystole 64.0%, PEA 28.0%, other non-shockable 8.0%; median compression rate 110/min; median CCF 71%; ROSC 24.2%; survival to hospital discharge 2.0%. The estimated linear effect on adjusted odds ratio with 95% confidence interval (OR; 95%CI) of ROSC for each 10% increase in CCF was (1.05; 0.99, 1.12). Adjusted (OR; 95%CI) of ROSC for each CCF category were: 0–40% (reference group); 41–60% (1.14; 0.72, 1.81); 61–80% (1.42; 0.92, 2.20); and 81–100% (1.48; 0.94, 2.32). Conclusions This is the first study to demonstrate that increased CCF among non-VF OOHCA patients is associated with a trend toward increased likelihood of ROSC.

Background— Quality cardiopulmonary resuscitation contributes to cardiac arrest survival. The proportion of time in which chest compressions are performed in each minute of cardiopulmonary resuscitation is an important modifiable aspect of quality cardiopulmonary resuscitation. We sought to estimate the effect of an increasing proportion of time spent performing chest compressions during cardiac arrest on survival to hospital discharge in patients with out-of-hospital ventricular fibrillation or pulseless ventricular tachycardia. Methods and Results— This is a prospective observational cohort study of adult patients from the Resuscitation Outcomes Consortium Cardiac Arrest Epistry with confirmed ventricular fibrillation or ventricular tachycardia, no defibrillation before emergency medical services arrival, electronically recorded cardiopulmonary resuscitation before the first shock, and a confirmed outcome. Patients were followed up to discharge from the hospital or death. Of the 506 cases, the mean age was 64 years, 80% were male, 71% were witnessed by a bystander, 51% received bystander cardiopulmonary resuscitation, 34% occurred in a public location, and 23% survived. After adjustment for age, gender, location, bystander cardiopulmonary resuscitation, bystander witness status, and response time, the odds ratios of surviving to hospital discharge in the 2 highest categories of chest compression fraction compared with the reference category were 3.01 (95% confidence interval 1.37 to 6.58) and 2.33 (95% confidence interval 0.96 to 5.63). The estimated adjusted linear effect on odds ratio of survival for a 10% change in chest compression fraction was 1.11 (95% confidence interval 1.01 to 1.21). Conclusions— An increased chest compression fraction is independently predictive of better survival in patients who experience a prehospital ventricular fibrillation/tachycardia cardiac arrest.

Injury is a major public health problem generating substantial morbidity, mortality, and economic burden on society. The majority of seriously injured persons are initially evaluated and cared for by prehospital providers, however the effect of emergency medical services (EMS) systems, EMS clinical care, and EMS interventions on trauma patient outcomes is largely unknown. Outcome-based information to guide future EMS care has been hampered by the lack of comprehensive, standardized, multi-center prehospital data resources that include meaningful patient outcomes. In this paper, we describe the background, design, development, implementation, content, and potential uses of the first North American comprehensive epidemiologic prehospital data registry for injured persons. This data registry samples patients from 264 EMS agencies transporting to 287 acute care hospitals in both the United States and Canada.