COMPARISON OF 2 EMERGENCY RESPONSE SYSTEMS AND THEIR EFFECT ON SURVIVAL FROM OUT-OF-HOSPITAL CARDIAC-ARREST

The pre-hospital care provided by emergency response systems will have an effect on the outcome of patients who have sustained an out of hos pital cardiac arrest. This study compares the results of resuscitation in two centres, one in the UK (Edinburgh) and the other in the USA (M ilwaukee), and examines the demographics in both centres. An overall g reater proportion of patients survived to hospital discharge in Edinbu rgh, 12.4%, compared with 7.2% in Milwaukee (P < 0.01). However patien ts were more likely to have a witnessed collapse in Edinburgh 65.7%, c ompared with 25% (P < 0.001) and significantly more of those patients received bystander cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) 42.3%, compared with 27.1% (P < 0.005). When these two effects are accounted for ther e is no difference in outcome. The importance of early alerting of eme rgency services and early bystander CPR should not be underestimated. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd.