Document Detail


Cardiac arrest in Irish general practice: an observational study from 426 general practices.
MedLine Citation:
PMID:  19720440     Owner:  NLM     Status:  MEDLINE    
Abstract/OtherAbstract:
SETTING: Sudden Cardiac Death accounts for approximately 5000 deaths in Ireland each year. Nationally, out-of-hospital cardiac arrest has a very low resuscitation rate, reported at less than 5%. Ireland has a well developed general practice network which routinely manages emergencies arising in the community setting. However, little is known about its potential impact on Sudden Cardiac Death. This study reports on the incidence and management of cardiac arrest in Irish general practice. METHOD: A national training/equipment project in defibrillation in general practice (MERIT) has established a network to prospectively report all cardiac arrests with a resuscitation attempt in general practice. Three monthly surveys of the network record events; structured debriefing uses a modified Utstein template to detail events and their outcomes. RESULTS: 426 practices reported data during a 36-month period (85-97% response rate to surveys), reporting 144 events, of which data are available on 136 events. 88.4% of events were witnessed, 31.6% by general practice staff. 58.2% of events occurred in the general practice or in the patient's home. The general practitioner (GP) was on scene before the ambulance in 72.6% of cases and 52.3% of the patients involved were patients of the GP attending. 52.3% of patients were defibrillated, 32.6% had return of spontaneous circulation at some point and 26 patients (19.5%) were discharged from hospital. CONCLUSIONS: Cardiac arrest in general practice is compatible with structured, effective interventions and significant rates of successful resuscitation. All general practices should be capable of providing this care.
Authors:
Gerard Bury; Mary Headon; Mark Dixon; Mairead Egan
Publication Detail:
Type:  Comparative Study; Journal Article; Multicenter Study; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't     Date:  2009-08-31
Journal Detail:
Title:  Resuscitation     Volume:  80     ISSN:  1873-1570     ISO Abbreviation:  Resuscitation     Publication Date:  2009 Nov 
Date Detail:
Created Date:  2009-10-26     Completed Date:  2010-01-19     Revised Date:  -    
Medline Journal Info:
Nlm Unique ID:  0332173     Medline TA:  Resuscitation     Country:  Ireland    
Other Details:
Languages:  eng     Pagination:  1244-7     Citation Subset:  IM    
Affiliation:
Centre for Immediate Care Services, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin, Ireland. gerard.bury@ucd.ie
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MeSH Terms
Descriptor/Qualifier:
Adolescent
Adult
Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation / methods*
Child
Child, Preschool
Death, Sudden, Cardiac / epidemiology*
Family Practice / statistics & numerical data*
Female
Heart Arrest / epidemiology*,  therapy
Humans
Incidence
Infant
Ireland / epidemiology
Male
Middle Aged
Retrospective Studies
Survival Rate / trends
Treatment Outcome
Young Adult

From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine


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