Need Bystander CPR? There's an App for That!

Cardiac arrest patients were more likely to receive bystander CPR when nearby trained laypeople were notified via their cell phones.

Bystander cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) has been associated with improved outcomes for patients with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (NEJM JW Emerg Med Dec 2013 and JAMA 2013; 310:1377.). However, it requires that trained laypeople be in close proximity to a victim when the cardiac arrest occurs, which is often not the case. Researchers in Sweden performed a randomized, controlled trial to determine whether use of a mobile-phone positioning system was associated with an increase in rates of bystander CPR. The system was designed to allow emergency medical services (EMS) dispatchers to notify CPR-trained laypeople within 500 m of a patient with suspected out-of-hospital cardiac arrest.

Almost 10,000 volunteers throughout Stockholm were t…

Reviewing Author

Ali S. Raja, MD, MBA, MPH, FACEP

Disclosures

Leadership Positions in Professional SocietiesSociety for Academic Emergency Medicine (Board Member); American College of Healthcare Executives – Massachusetts (Board Member)

Ali S. Raja, MD, MBA, MPH, FACEP

Disclosures

Leadership Positions in Professional SocietiesSociety for Academic Emergency Medicine (Board Member); American College of Healthcare Executives – Massachusetts (Board Member)

Need Bystander CPR? There's an App for That!

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Reviewing Author