Acute cardiac care & resuscitationCohort study
Underutilized Potential of a Nationwide Community First Responder System
- Retrospective register-based cohort study
- nationwide community first responder (CFR) system, Capital Region of Denmark
Authors' conclusion
The CFR system was activated in <60% of eligible OHCAs. CFR system activation was higher among certain patient groups, and excessive variability in CFR system activation among call takers was identified.
Study context
- Population
- OHCAs eligible for CFR system activation, Capital Region of Denmark, September 2017 to December 2023 (excluding suicide, trauma, nursing homes and OHCAs not recognised by call takers)
- Participants
- 4,320 eligible OHCAs
- Outcome
- Proportion of OHCAs with CFR system activation by emergency medical service (EMS) call takers
Main finding
As reported in the abstract
CFR system activation
CFR system activated by call takers
2,486 (57.5%)
Observational data: associations, not effects.
Further findings
Characteristics associated with CFR system activation
| Comparison | RR (95% CI) | |
|---|---|---|
| OHCAs in private homes | 1.53 (1.41–1.66) | |
| longer EMS response time | 1.27 (1.13–1.44) | |
| OHCAs occurring in nighttime in private homes | 1.10 (1.03–1.19) | |
| 0.512Relative risk (log scale) |
| Outcome | RR (95% CI) | |
|---|---|---|
| CFR system activation, female vs male patients by age group — Female vs Male · aged 0 to 20 years | 0.25 (0.02–0.95) | |
| CFR system activation, female vs male patients by age group — Female vs Male · aged 66 to 80 years | 0.88 (0.81–0.96) | |
| CFR system activation, female vs male patients by age group — Female vs Male · aged >80 years | 0.77 (0.68–0.86) | |
| 0.050.21520Relative risk (log scale) |
Characteristics associated with CFR system activation
- Patient age 51 to 80 years associated with higher likelihood of activation
Variability in CFR system activation among call takers
- Considerable variability among call takers (Q1-Q3)
- 48.0%-68.0%
Original publication
Underutilized Potential of a Nationwide Community First Responder System. J Am Coll Cardiol. Published 14 January 2026. doi:10.1016/j.jacc.2025.11.006
Summarised from the published abstract; every number is checked against it