Effect of delayed transport on clinical outcomes among patients with cardiac arrest during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic

Background The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has prompted many changes. Revised cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) recommendations were issued including increased requirement for personal protective equipment (PPE) during CPR and isolation rooms. We hypothesized that these changes might have affected transport times and distance. Accordingly, we investigated any differences in transport time and distance and their effect on patient neurologic outcomes at hospital discharge. Methods This retrospective study was conducted among patients who experienced cardiopulmonary arrest and were admitted to an emergency department during specific periods — pre-COVID-19 (January 1 to December 31, 2019) and COVID-19 (March 1, 2020, to February 28, 2021). Result The mean transport distance was 3.5 ± 2.1 km and 3.7 ± 2.3 km during the pre-COVID-19 and COVID-19 periods, respectively (p = 0.664). The mean total transport time was 30.3 ± 6.9 min and 35.6 ± 9.3 min during the pre-COVID-19 and COVID-19 periods, respectively (p