Acute cardiac care & resuscitationResearch article
Number of community first responders needed for quick response times to cardiac arrest: a nationwide study
- nationwide study
Authors' conclusion
The likelihood of CFR response times under 5 min increased significantly with the number of available CFRs. At around 800 available CFRs per 100,000 residents, a response time under 5 min for the first-arriving CFR was achieved in almost half of system activations, and for the first-arriving CFR bringing an AED in almost one-third of system activations. This shows the importance of recruiting enough CFRs to ensure quick response times.
Study context
- Population
- Activations of the Danish nationwide community first responder (CFR) system for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, February 2018 to August 2024
- Participants
- 12,806 CFR system activations
- Comparison
- Activations grouped by the number of available CFRs per 100,000 residents
Main finding
As reported in the abstract
Percentage of activations with a response time under 5 min for the first-arriving CFR
Absolute increase
13%
95% CI [5%, 21%]
By group
800-899 per 100,000 residents vs 300-399 per 100,000 residents
absolute increase 13% (95% CI [5%, 21%])
Further findings
| Outcome | 300-399 per 100,000 residents | 800-899 per 100,000 residents | absolute increase (95% CI) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Percentage of activations with a response time under 5 min for the first-arriving CFR bringing an AED · increase as available CFRs increased from 300-399 to 800-899 | 7% | 29% | 23% ([15%, 31%]) | |
| −2002040Difference (linear scale) |
Original publication
Number of community first responders needed for quick response times to cardiac arrest: a nationwide study. Resuscitation. Published 3 July 2026. doi:10.1016/j.resuscitation.2026.111200
Summarised from the published abstract; every number is checked against it