Deaths outside hospital from acute coronary events

BMJ 1998;317:819 ( 19 September )

Letters

Deaths outside hospital from acute coronary events

Early access to defibrillation is a key to survival

Community training in resuscitation and other therapies is needed

Early access to defibrillation is a key to survival

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

EDITOR $---$ We wish to comment on some of the strategies suggested by Norris et al to reduce mortality from acute coronary attacks.¹Recently we reviewed outcomes for all cardiac arrests in adultspresenting to the emergency department at the Norfolk and NorwichHospital during 1991 and 1996. The region served by this hospitalis semirural, with a single tier response ambulance service. Between1991 and 1996 several changes were made to the organisation anddelivery of prehospital care. Foremost was the amalgamation ofthe three ambulance services covering East Anglia. The proportionof calls answered by a paramedic crew also changed, increasingfrom 70% to 100%. Ninety five per cent of calls were answeredwithin 16 minutes in 1991 and within 22 minutes in 1996. Despitethese changes there was no significant difference in outcome.Fifteen out of 113 victims survived to discharge in 1991 comparedwith 11 out of 147 in1996.

Early access to defibrillation is a key to . . . [Full text of this article]

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Fatality outside hospital from acute coronary events in three British health districts, 1994-5: R M Norris on behalf of the United Kingdom Heart Attack Study Collaborative Group
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