Defibrillation by general practitioners: an audit of resuscitation in a Scottish rural practice

The objective was to review the outcome of resuscitation attempts in a small remote two-partner practice of 2700 patients in Galloway, South West Scotland during the period 1985-1992. During the study period 15 attempts were made to resuscitate the victims of cardiac arrest. Two sub-groups were identified. In the first, nine out of ten patients whose arrest occurred in the presence of a doctor were successfully resuscitated and all proved to be long term survivors. In the second group of five patients whose arrest took place before the arrival of the doctor there were no survivors. We conclude that defibrillation by general practitioners has a valuable contribution to make in reducing the mortality from myocardial infarction in rural practice.