A system-wide approach from the community to the hospital for improving neurologic outcomes in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest patients

Objective In the present study, we aimed to determine the effects of a system-wide approach from the community to the hospital in improving the neurologic outcomes in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) patients within Sungbuk in Korea. Methods This study used a before-after design. In 2011, compression-only cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) for citizens, a state-wide standard dispatcher assisted-CPR protocol, medical control for regional emergency medical service (EMS), provision of high-quality advanced cardiac life support (ACLS) with capnography and extracorporeal CPR, and the standard postcardiac arrest care protocol were implemented in the system-wide CPR program. CPR provision and outcomes were compared between the 2009-2010 and the 2012-2013 periods. A multivariate logistic regression model for good outcome of OHCA was used to identify interventions with a significant impact. Results In total, 581 adult nontraumatic OHCA patients who received resuscitation attempts from 2009 to 2013 were selected for the analysis of CPR provision and outcomes. CPR provision improved significantly, as indicated by the following results from 2009-2010 to 2012-2013: From 15.9 to 50.4% for bystander CPR (P<0.001), 6.0 to 0% for the proportion of no documented arrest rhythm by EMS (P=0.004), 41.4 to 62.2% for ACLS with capnography (P=0.008), 1.4 to 10.5% for extracorporeal CPR (P=0.052), 3.7 to 34.4% for successful therapeutic hypothermia in coma patients (P<0.001), and 61.5 to 87.1% for immediate coronary angiography for presumed cardiac etiology (P=0.005). Moreover, the proportion of OHCA patients who received early EMS activation, bystander CPR, appropriate attempt of defibrillation at the prehospital level, high-quality ACLS, and standard postcardiac arrest care increased from 0.5% in 2009-2010 to 8.5% in 2012-2013 (P<0.001). The rates of discharge with a good neurologic outcome improved from 3.3% in 2009-2010 to 8.5% in 2012-2013 (P<0.001). Conclusion The system-wide CPR program was associated with enhancements in CPR performance at both the prehospital and the hospital level, and yielded improved neurologic outcomes in OHCA patients in a small region.