Regional Variation in Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest Incidence and Survival

Survival rates can vary by more than fivefold at different U.S. and Canadian sites.

Understanding regional variation in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) might help us identify interventions that have been effective in some communities and implement them in others. To examine variations in OHCA incidence and outcome, researchers evaluated prospectively collected data on all nontraumatic OHCA cases that were evaluated by emergency medical services personnel in seven U.S. and three Canadian sites from 2006 to 2007.

During the study period, 20,520 OHCAs occurred among the total catchment area population of 21.4 million, and resuscitation was attempted by EMS personnel in 11,898 (58%) of those cases. The mean incidence of EMS-treated OHCA per 100,000 population was 56.0 overall (range, 40.3–86.7), and the mean rate of survi…

Reviewing Author

John A. Marx, MD, FAAEM, FACEP