EuReCa TWO - A prospective observational analysis over three month in 29 cardiac arrest and resuscitation registries in 29 European countries - The EuReCa TWO study protocol

EuReCa ONE was a one-month survey of epidemiology, treatment and outcome of patients suffering an out-of hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA), across 27 European nations, in October 2014. The EuReCa ONE study showed a high degree of variation in incidence and outcome across Europe and raised questions about the cause of these variations. For example, different interpretations of the term 'bystander CPR' was noted, confirmed by a subsequent European survey. The need to further understand the cause of variation led to the establishment of the EuReCa TWO project. EuReCa TWO has three primary aims: 1) Expand the EuReCa network; 2) Improve the understanding of the role, age and gender profile of bystanders in OHCA in Europe; 3) Generate estimates of European OHCA incidence and outcome for all patients as well as subgroups that make up a small proportion of overall cases at national level, e.g. traumatic aetiology, patients transferred to hospital with ongoing CPR. In order to achieve these aims, the following objectives will be fulfilled: encourage participating countries to aim for national data collection and encourage additional countries to participate in the study; increase the data collection period in order to provide more robust estimates of incidence, management and outcome; identify consistency and variation in the use of the term 'bystander CPR'; describe the incidence of 'bystander CPR' and its influence on OHCA outcome. With 29 countries now part of the EuReCa 'family', the EuReCa TWO study provides an expanded Utsteinbased dataset, data collection tool over a three-month data collection period for all participating countries. The EuReCa TWO study is registered by ClinicalTrials.gov