Pre-hospital Post ROSC Care: Are we Achieving Our Targets?

Rational: Out of hospital cardiac arrest is a devastating event with a high mortality. Survival rates have increased over the last years, with the availability of AED's and public BLS. Previous studies have shown that deranged physiology after return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC) is associated with a worse neurological outcome. Good quality post-arrest care is therefore of utmost importance. Objective: To determine how often prehospital crews (with their given skills set) encounter problems meeting optimal post-ROSC targets in patients suffering from OHCA, and to investigate if this can be predicted based on patient-, provider- or treatment factors. Study design: Prospective cohort study of all patients attended by the EMS services with an OHCA who regain ROSC and are transported to a single university hospital, in order to identify those patients with a ROSC after a non-traumatic OHCA who had deranged physiology and/or complications from OHCA EMS personnel was unable to prevent/deal with in the prehospital environment. Study population: Patients, \>18 years, transported by the EMS services to the ED of the University Hospital Groningen (UMCG) with a ROSC after OHCA in a 1 year period Main study parameters/endpoints: Primary endpoint of our study is the percentage of OHCA patients with a prehospital ROSC who arrive in hospital with either a deranged physiology or with complications from OHCA EMS personnel was unable to deal with.