A review of pre‐hospital defibrillation by ambulance officers in Perth, Western Australia
The Medical Journal of AustraliaPublished 1 December 1990
Ian Jacobs, Harry F. Oxer
Citations28
SJR quartileQ1
SJR score1.51
SNIP1.48
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TL;DR
The key determinant in survival from VF occurring outside hospital appears to be how rapidly defibrillation can be initiated, where time to defribrillation is short, the chance of survival improves.
Abstract
Ventricular fibrillation (VF) is the most common presenting rhythm in cardiac arrest occurring outside hospitals. All cases of VF treated with a defibrillation-only protocol by ambulance officers were reviewed. Of the 231 cases entered into the study, 40 (22.7%) patients survived to 28 days after discharge from hospital. The proportion of survivors in this study is similar to that receiving full paramedic services. Further, where time to defribillation is short, the chance of survival improves. The key determinant in survival from VF occurring outside hospital appears to be how rapidly defibrillation can be initiated.
Keywords
Medicine
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