Results from the first 12 months of a fire first-responder program in Australia

Study objective: We aimed to reduce response times and time to defibrillation for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest patients through fire first-responders equipped with automatic external defibrillators (AEDs). The fire first-responders were added as an extra tier to the existing two-tired ambulance re...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Resuscitation 2001-05, Vol.49 (2), p.143-150
Main Authors: Smith, K.L., Peeters, A., McNeil, J.J.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Ambulance response
Anesthesia. Intensive care medicine. Transfusions. Cell therapy and gene therapy
Australia
Automatic external defibrillators
Biological and medical sciences
Cardiac arrest
Desfibriladores automáticos externos
Electric Countershock
Emergency and intensive care: techniques, logistics
Emergency Medical Services - economics
Emergency Medical Technicians - economics
Health Care Costs
Humans
Intensive care medicine
Intensive care unit. Emergency transport systems. Emergency, hospital ward
Medical sciences
Paragem cardı́aca
Resposta por ambulância
Survival Analysis
Time Factors
Tropical medicine
Ventricular Fibrillation - therapy
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Summary:Study objective: We aimed to reduce response times and time to defibrillation for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest patients through fire first-responders equipped with automatic external defibrillators (AEDs). The fire first-responders were added as an extra tier to the existing two-tired ambulance response. Methods: This prospective controlled trial set in Melbourne, Australia, consisted of a control area (277 km 2, population density 2343/km 2-ambulance only dispatch) and a pilot area (171 km 2, population density 2290/km 2-ambulance and fire first-responder dispatch). The main outcome measures were time to emergency medical service (EMS) arrival at scene for all cardiac arrest patients and time to defibrillation for cardiac arrest patients presenting in ventricular fibrillation (VF). The study participants were patients who suffered a cardiac arrest of presumed cardiac aetiology for which a priority 0 emergency response was activated. A total of 268 patients were located in the control area and 161 in the pilot (intervention) area. Results: The mean response time to arrival at scene was reduced by 1.60 (95% CI 1.21, 1.99) min, P
ISSN:0300-9572
1873-1570
DOI:10.1016/S0300-9572(00)00355-5