SALT LAKE CITY, UT--Thanks to the implementation of a new resuscitation innovation, the Salt Lake City Fire Department has seen an increase survival rate of cardiac arrests.
The survival rate for all cardiac arrests responded to by Salt Lake City firefighters has improved from 12 percent in 2011 to 18 percent in 2013. The national survival rate is 10 percent.
When a cardiac arrest is witnessed and the patient has a shockable heart rhythm, the survival rate increased from 30 percent in 2011 to 50 percent in 2013. The national rate is 32 percent.
SLC Firefighters also helped patients regain a pulse on 41 percent of responses in 2013, up from 29 percent in 2011. The national average is 31 percent.
Ninety-five percent of 2013 cardiac arrest survivors in Salt Lake City are discharged from the hospital with a good neurologic outcome. Salt Lake City has now become one of the best cities in the country to treat cardiac arrest.
The new innovation is called a “Pit Crew” response. Much like having members of a crew automatically get to work when a racecar pulls in the pit during a race, each of the four firefighters have specific responsibilities when arriving on scene of a cardiac arrest. SLC firefighters attended numerous training sessions since implementation in 2010, which helped them identify their roles in order to best accomplish their specific tasks.
The previous approach relied on the team to call out tasks each firefighter would perform.
“Another major change for all cardiac arrest responses is to work on the patient where we find them instead of immediately loading the patient into an ambulance and taking them to a hospital while attempting to give them medical attention during transport,” said Scott Youngquist, Medical Director for the Salt Lake City Fire Department. “It is difficult to perform good CPR on the patient in the back of a speeding ambulance and it puts the first-responders and the driving public at risk or accident or injury.”
Youngquist said that the new approach has helped avoid prolonged interruptions in chest compressions as the first-responders can focus on resuscitation on the scene.
“Since we implemented this new approach, we have seen steady improvement in chest compression quality and frequency without interruptions. This has led to improvements in survival,” Youngquist said.
SOURCE: Salt Lake City Fire Department
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