A retrospective study on epidemiological analysis of pre-hospital emergency care in Hangzhou, China

PLoS One. 2023 Apr 18;18(4):e0282870. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0282870. eCollection 2023.

Abstract

Out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) is a leading cause of global mortality, with numerous factors influencing the patient survival rate and prognosis. This study aimed to evaluate the OHCA epidemiology in China and elaborate on the current Hangzhou emergency system status. This retrospective analysis was based on the medical history system of the Hangzhou Emergency Center registered from 2015-2021. We provided a detailed description of OHCA characteristics and investigated the factors affecting the success rate of emergency treatment in terms of epidemiology, causes of onset, bystander rescue, and outcome factors. We included 9585 out-of-hospital cardiac arrest cases, of which 5442 (56.8%) had evidence of resuscitation. Patients with underlying diseases constituted the vast majority (80.1%); trauma and physicochemical factors accounted for 16.5% and 3.4%, respectively. Only 30.4% of patients (about 80.0% of bystanders witnessed) received bystander first aid. The outcome rate of emergency doctors dispatched by emergency centres was significantly higher than doctors dispatched by hospitals. Additionally, physician's first-aid experience, emergency response time, emergency telephone availability, initial heart rhythm, out-of-hospital defibrillation, out-of-hospital intubation, and using of epinephrine significantly can significantly improve the out-of-hospital return of spontaneous circulation in patients. All steps in pre-hospital care are important for patients, especially for bystander first aid and physician's first-aid experience. The popularity of first-aid training and the public emergency medical system are not potent enough. We should take those key factors into consideration when developing a pre-hospital care system for OHCA.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation*
  • China / epidemiology
  • Emergency Medical Services*
  • Hospitals
  • Humans
  • Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest* / epidemiology
  • Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest* / therapy
  • Retrospective Studies

Grants and funding

This work was supported by the Research Foundation of Hangzhou Science and Technology Institute, Zhejiang, China (grant number 20201203B187).