Pre-hospital cardiac arrest in Prague, Czech Republic--the Utstein-style report

This study aimed to report results of pre-hospital cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) in the city of Prague in accordance with 'Utstein-style' recommendations.

This is a prospective study of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) survival in the city of Prague treated by emergency medical service (EMS). EMS Prague is a typical municipal, two-tiered ambulance service, based on the presence of a physician on the scene in all life-threatening emergencies, especially in cardiac arrests, serious breathing problems, chest-pain cases, seizures, serious trauma, etc. Since 2002, all cases of OHCA CPRs performed by EMS Prague ambulance crew are evaluated in accordance with 'Utstein-style' recommendations, including hospital-outcome score as measured by Cerebral Performance Categories (CPCs).

In 2008, our ambulance crew performed 493 CPRs. Return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC) was achieved in 278 cases (56.3%), survival of the event in 211 cases (42.8%) and survival to hospital discharge with good neurological outcome (CPC 1 or 2) in 74 cases (15.0%). Appropriate figures for patients with first shockable rhythm (n=146) were 106 (72.6%) for ROSC, 91 (62.3%) for survived event and 51 (34.9%) for survival to discharge with good neurological outcome. Pre-hospital CPR incidence was 41.1 per 100,000 inhabitants. The majority of cases had a cardiac origin (363, 73.6%). The physician attending the arrest declared the reason unknown in 40 cases (8.1%), as a respiratory disease in 20 cases (4.1%) and in 36 cases (7.3%) the arrest was a result of trauma, drowning or poisoning.