Abstract
BACKGROUND: Out-of-hospital cardiac-arrest (OHCA) is a major public health challenge. Community health care providers (CHP) may play an important role through early identification, basic life support and defibrillation. Few studies have evaluated the incidence and characteristics of OHCAs initially cared for by CHP, most finding improved survival. This study combined CHP treated OHCA case analysis, with assessment of provider resuscitation preparedness. METHODS: An analysis of all CHP initiated resuscitations in a large Health Maintenance Organization (HMO) reported over 42 months, coupled with an online survey assessing CHP resuscitation knowledge, experience, training and self-confidence. RESULTS: 22 resuscitations met inclusion criteria. In 21 CHP initiated chest-compressions but in only 8 cases they utilized the clinic's automated external defibrillator (AED) prior to emergency medical services (EMS) arrival. There were 275 providers surveyed. Of the surveyed providers, 89.4% reported previous basic life support (BLS)/advanced cardiovascular life support (ALS) training, 67.9% within the last three years. Previous resuscitation experience was reported by 72.7%. The lowest scoring knowledge question was on indications for AED application -56.3%. Additionally, 44.4% reported low confidence in their resuscitation skills. CHP with previous cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) experience reported higher confidence. Longer time since last CPR training lowered self-confidence. CONCLUSIONS: Early AED application is crucial for patients with OHCA. All clinics in our study were equipped with AED's and most CHP received training in their use, but remained insecure regarding their use, often failing to do so.