Improving Outcomes from Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest

Availability of public-access defibrillators has been the most important of the interventions to improve survival from OHCA in Denmark.

Several recent studies have demonstrated improvements in survival from out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) after institution of public access defibrillator (PAD) programs (NEJM JW Emerg Med Dec 2016 and N Engl J Med 2016; 375:1649; NEJM JW Emerg Med Sep 2015 and JAMA 2015; 314:255; NEJM JW Emerg Med Jan 2015 and Circulation 2014; 130:1868. Since 2005, Danish public health authorities have instituted a number of programs, including mandatory resuscitation training in elementary schools and when getting a driver's license; dissemination of PADs; and guidance to location and use of nearby PADs by emergency medicine services dispatchers. These researchers studied the effect of the interventions on rates of bystander defibrillation and 30-day …

Reviewing Author

Ali S. Raja, MD, MBA, MPH

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

Disclosures

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

Improving Outcomes from Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest

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Reviewing Author