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Recognition of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest by medical dispatchers in emergency medical dispatch centres in two countries

Møller, Thea Palsgaard ; Andréll, Cecilia LU ; Viereck, Søren ; Todorova, Lizbet LU ; Friberg, Hans LU and Lippert, Freddy K. (2016) In Resuscitation 109. p.1-8
Abstract

Introduction Survival after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) remains low. Early recognition by emergency medical dispatchers is essential for an effective chain of actions, leading to early cardiopulmonary resuscitation, use of an automated external defibrillator and rapid dispatching of the emergency medical services. Aim To analyse and compare the accuracy of OHCA recognition by medical dispatchers in two countries. Method An observational register-based study collecting data from national cardiac arrest registers in Denmark and Sweden during a six-month period in 2013. Data were analysed in two steps; registry data were merged with electronically registered emergency call data from the emergency medical dispatch centres in the... (More)

Introduction Survival after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) remains low. Early recognition by emergency medical dispatchers is essential for an effective chain of actions, leading to early cardiopulmonary resuscitation, use of an automated external defibrillator and rapid dispatching of the emergency medical services. Aim To analyse and compare the accuracy of OHCA recognition by medical dispatchers in two countries. Method An observational register-based study collecting data from national cardiac arrest registers in Denmark and Sweden during a six-month period in 2013. Data were analysed in two steps; registry data were merged with electronically registered emergency call data from the emergency medical dispatch centres in the two regions. Cases with missing or non-OHCA dispatch codes were analysed further by auditing emergency call recordings using a uniform data collection template. Results The sensitivity for recognition of OHCA was 40.9% (95% CI: 37.1–44.7%) in the Capital Region of Denmark and 78.4% (95% CI: 73.2–83.0%) in the Skåne Region in Sweden (p < 0.001). With additional data from the emergency call recordings, the sensitivity was 80.7% (95% CI: 77.7–84.3%) and 86.0% (95% CI: 81.3–89.8%) for the two regions (p = 0.06). The majority of the non-recognised OHCA were dispatched with the highest priority. Conclusion The accuracy of OHCA recognition was high and comparable. We identified large differences in data registration practices despite the use of similar dispatch tools. This raises a discussion of definitions and transparency in general in scientific reporting of OHCA recognition, which is essential if used as quality indicator in emergency medical services

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author
; ; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Emergency calls, Emergency medical dispatching, Emergency medical services, Out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, Recognition
in
Resuscitation
volume
109
pages
8 pages
publisher
Elsevier
external identifiers
  • scopus:84989189641
  • pmid:27658652
  • wos:000389512100009
ISSN
0300-9572
DOI
10.1016/j.resuscitation.2016.09.012
project
Prehospitalt omhändertagande vid hjärtstopp utanför sjukhus
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
6524be13-33b8-4cd5-9954-f9610565e743
date added to LUP
2016-10-12 12:17:43
date last changed
2024-01-04 14:08:02
@article{6524be13-33b8-4cd5-9954-f9610565e743,
  abstract     = {{<p>Introduction Survival after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) remains low. Early recognition by emergency medical dispatchers is essential for an effective chain of actions, leading to early cardiopulmonary resuscitation, use of an automated external defibrillator and rapid dispatching of the emergency medical services. Aim To analyse and compare the accuracy of OHCA recognition by medical dispatchers in two countries. Method An observational register-based study collecting data from national cardiac arrest registers in Denmark and Sweden during a six-month period in 2013. Data were analysed in two steps; registry data were merged with electronically registered emergency call data from the emergency medical dispatch centres in the two regions. Cases with missing or non-OHCA dispatch codes were analysed further by auditing emergency call recordings using a uniform data collection template. Results The sensitivity for recognition of OHCA was 40.9% (95% CI: 37.1–44.7%) in the Capital Region of Denmark and 78.4% (95% CI: 73.2–83.0%) in the Skåne Region in Sweden (p &lt; 0.001). With additional data from the emergency call recordings, the sensitivity was 80.7% (95% CI: 77.7–84.3%) and 86.0% (95% CI: 81.3–89.8%) for the two regions (p = 0.06). The majority of the non-recognised OHCA were dispatched with the highest priority. Conclusion The accuracy of OHCA recognition was high and comparable. We identified large differences in data registration practices despite the use of similar dispatch tools. This raises a discussion of definitions and transparency in general in scientific reporting of OHCA recognition, which is essential if used as quality indicator in emergency medical services</p>}},
  author       = {{Møller, Thea Palsgaard and Andréll, Cecilia and Viereck, Søren and Todorova, Lizbet and Friberg, Hans and Lippert, Freddy K.}},
  issn         = {{0300-9572}},
  keywords     = {{Emergency calls; Emergency medical dispatching; Emergency medical services; Out-of-hospital cardiac arrest; Recognition}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{12}},
  pages        = {{1--8}},
  publisher    = {{Elsevier}},
  series       = {{Resuscitation}},
  title        = {{Recognition of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest by medical dispatchers in emergency medical dispatch centres in two countries}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.resuscitation.2016.09.012}},
  doi          = {{10.1016/j.resuscitation.2016.09.012}},
  volume       = {{109}},
  year         = {{2016}},
}