There is a strong correlation between survival and the time elapsed from cardiac arrest out-of-hospital till defibrillation (brief electric shock passing through the heart via the chest that causes the heart to beat normally again). In Sweden, it takes on average 14 minutes from cardiac arrest till defibrillation. The goal is to reduce this time to 5 minutes.
The present study tests the hypothesis that the time elapsed before defibrillation is reduced if rescue services and police - in addition to an ambulance - are also dispatched.
The following regions are participating in the study: Västra Götaland, Skåne, Stockholm, Sörmland, Dalarna as well as Jönköping County. The following questions are being used to survey all the cases in which both the rescue services and an ambulance were dispatched:
1. How precise is the location of the dispatch?
2. How often do the rescue services arrive first?
3. How often is defibrillation performed by the rescue services?
4. How quickly is defibrillation performed by the rescue services?
The study is assumed to be significant for the number of people who survive a cardiac arrest out-of-hospital because the dispatching of rescue services and police as well as ambulance has the potential to achieve the goal of a shorter time till defibrillation.