Acute cardiac care & resuscitationCohort study
Emergency response with lights and sirens to patients with a suspected out-of-hospital cardiac arrest and a do-not-attempt-resuscitation order in the hospital record: a one-year observational study
- retrospective observational study
Authors' conclusion
In almost every sixth dispatch to suspected OHCA, the patient had a physician-issued DNAR-order in the hospital record. We call for physician-issued DNAR-orders to be accessible for all healthcare providers, including emergency medical dispatchers and other prehospital personnel.
Study context
- Population
- All emergency dispatches to suspected OHCA in 2024 in the Region of Southern Denmarkdispatches to patients with suspected OHCA
- Participants
- 1,695 dispatches
- Exposure
- Patients with do-not-attempt-resuscitation (DNAR) versus the group without DNAR
- DNARn = 266
Main finding
As reported in the abstract
Physician-issued DNAR-order in the hospital record
Dispatches where the patient had a physician-issued DNAR-order
266 (15.7%)
Of the 266 with DNAR, registered as requested by the patient
126 (47.4%)
Observational data: associations, not effects.
Further findings
One-day mortality
- One-day mortality: p < 0.001
Number of units dispatched and arriving at the scene
- No significant difference
Original publication
Emergency response with lights and sirens to patients with a suspected out-of-hospital cardiac arrest and a do-not-attempt-resuscitation order in the hospital record: a one-year observational study. Resuscitation. Published 27 July 2026. doi:10.1016/j.resuscitation.2026.111224
Summarised from the published abstract; every number is checked against it