Prehospital Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation by 119 Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) for Increasing the Rate of Return of Spontaneous Circulation; National-Wide 119 EMT Survey

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: The out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) survival rate of patients in Korea is lower than the global average and it might be caused by an extremely low rate of return of spontaneous circulation in the prehospital field. The authors identified obstacles that disturb on-scene performance of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) for a certain period from 119 emergency medical technicians (EMTs) through a nation-wide paper survey. METHODS: A total of 1273 first grade EMTs and nurses were surveyed. CPR time performed on the scene (without transfer), CPR experiences, self-assessment of CPR skill performance, and both obstacles to performance of CPR on the scene and solutions to overcoming them for continuous on-scene CPR were investigated using a 28-item questionnaire. RESULTS: The average for work experience and the number of CPR experiences of subjects was 6.8+/-4.5 years and 1.9+/-1.7 times/month, respectively. Survey results for CPR times on the scene showed an average of 4.2+/-2.4 minutes, approximately two periods of CPR (302x5 cycles). Obstacles to CPR on the scene were investigated as complaints of family members in 791(62.1%) and fatigue lowering CPR quality due to lack of human resources in 536(41.0%); 627(49.3%) of the subjects answered that they had received complaints due to a long stay on the scene. CONCLUSION: In order to increase the survival rate of OHCA patients, CPR on the scene is needed during a certain period in order to achieve a return of spontaneous circulation. Education, amelioration of guidelines, and support for the EMT administrative system are also needed.