Stark new figures for cardiac arrests in England revealed that only around eight per cent of patients survived 30 days after a cardiac arrest during 2022 – a decrease from the previous year.
Ambulance services performed resuscitation in nearly 35,000 patients in England following an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, and a quarter of patients had their hearts restarted by the time that they reached hospital. Two thirds of cardiac arrests happened in men, and around 80 per cent happened in the patient’s usual place of residence.
High-quality data
Members of the public performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) in over 70 per cent of cases but used a public-access defibrillator in fewer than 10 per cent of cases. Both figures represent an increase from 2021.
The findings are published by the Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest Outcomes (OHCAO) Registry, based at the University of Warwick Clinical Trials Unit – using data submitted by all English regional ambulance services. Its aim is to collect and summarise high-quality data to support UK initiatives to improve outcomes from out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. The OHCAO registry is funded by us and the Resuscitation Council UK (RCUK).
Missed opportunities
Dr Christopher Smith, Clinical Lecturer at Warwick Medical School and co-chief investigator of the OHCAO registry, said: “The figures from the OHCAO registry show us that survival from out-of-hospital cardiac arrest remains low, with around 1 in 12 people surviving and leaving hospital.
“Cardiac arrest is the most serious and time-critical medical emergency, but there is a lot that can be done to improve patient outcomes. In particular, there is a need to better co-ordinate and implement community-based interventions such as bystander CPR and the use of public-access defibrillators. Such initiatives require high-quality data to identify the scale of the problem and areas where researchers and clinicians can target interventions to have the biggest impact. The OHCAO registry provides and shares this data with the aim of saving more lives in the future.”
"Every second is vital"
Judy O’Sullivan, our Director of Health Innovation Programmes, said: “Every second is vital when someone has a cardiac arrest. Quick CPR and defibrillation can be the difference between life and death. These figures lay bare the worryingly low survival rates following an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, and show that too many opportunities to help save a life are being missed. We need to change this.
“It’s important to have the confidence to do CPR and use a defibrillator. Our free, interactive RevivR training tool can teach you the lifesaving skill of CPR and how to use a defibrillator in just 15 minutes, and could ultimately help save the life of a loved one.”
"Save more lives"
James Cant, Chief Executive of Resuscitation Council UK, added, “Improving patient outcomes from OHCAO is a key priority for Resuscitation Council UK. We want to save more lives and reduce the devastating consequence of cardiac arrest for patients and their families. This report sheds crucial light on survival, CPR and defibrillator trends, allowing us to apply a data driven approach in working to save more lives.
We must now focus on addressing the disparities revealed in the data, boosting CPR awareness, and advocating for wider public-access defibrillator utilisation.”
SOURCE: Kaamya Mehta, British Heart Foundation