Dispatcher Assistance Improves Bystander CPR Rates

In a large metropolitan area, addition of a dispatcher-assisted cardiopulmonary resuscitation protocol was associated with higher rates of survival and better neurologic outcomes.

Early cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest improves survival, yet can be difficult to achieve. Researchers determined the effect of dispatcher-assisted CPR (DA-CPR) on rates of bystander CPR and patient outcomes in Seoul, Korea, by analyzing data from emergency medical services and hospital medical records for adults with cardiac etiologies of arrest during the two years before (2009 and 2010) and the 1 year after (2011) implementation of a DA-CPR protocol.

Rates of bystander CPR improved from 5.7% of cases in 2009 and 6.7% in 2010 to 12.4% in 2011. Rates of survival to discharge were 7.1% before the intervention and 9.4% after. Good neurological outcomes likewise improved, from approximately 2.0% to 3.6%.…

Reviewing Author

Kristi L. Koenig, MD, FACEP, FIFEM

Disclosures

Editorial boardsKoenig & Schultz's Disaster Medicine: Comprehensive Principles and Practices

Kristi L. Koenig, MD, FACEP, FIFEM

Disclosures

Editorial boardsKoenig & Schultz's Disaster Medicine: Comprehensive Principles and Practices

Dispatcher Assistance Improves Bystander CPR Rates

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Reviewing Author