Acute cardiac care & resuscitation
Does the initial description of an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest given by callers contacting Emergency Medical Services contain key indicator words which can be used to support appropriate resource deployment?
Authors' conclusion
Analysis of information volunteered by an EMS caller may be able to predict clinical outcome, particularly for patients who have resuscitation withheld on EMS arrival. Current protocols may not consider this information and could result in high acuity responses for patients who are unlikely to survive. This study of unstructured call narratives should supplement existing practice to assist with resource deployment.
Study context
- Population
- Out-of-hospital cardiac arrest electronic health records, with call data linked to clinical records and outcome at 30 days, 01/04/2020 to 31/03/2023
- Participants
- 37,532 out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) electronic health records
- Outcome
- 'Lifeless' descriptors associated with resuscitation being withheld
Methodological detailssingle English Emergency Medical Services (EMS)
- Single English EMS
Main finding
As reported in the abstract
- 'Lifeless' descriptors identified with stronger association with resuscitation being withheld
- Thirteen
- Calls with these descriptors that still received the highest level of EMS response
- 56.6%
Observational data: associations, not effects.
Further findings
Terms associated with survival to 30 days
- Terms identified with a better association with survival to 30 days, often describing symptoms e.g. "chest pain" or "sweating"
- Four
- Chi-square analysis p < 0.001
Original publication
Does the initial description of an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest given by callers contacting Emergency Medical Services contain key indicator words which can be used to support appropriate resource deployment? Resuscitation. Published 17 March 2026. doi:10.
Composed by AI from the published abstract and checked against it. How Briefs are made →