Paramedics’ Experience Is Vital For Cardiac Arrest Survival: Study Says

A study in Australia revealed that if a paramedic has observed or taken part in treating cardiac arrest during emergency cases outside the hospital, the next patient's chance of survival increases.

Kylie Dyson, lead author of the study states that cardiac arrest is the leading cause of death worldwide. And according to Heart Rhythm Society, more than 350,000 deaths were recorded every year due to sudden cardiac arrest. Almost 95 percent of the victims died because they did not receive life-saving defibrillation within four to six minutes after the attack, where brain death starts to occur. In considering the chance of survival among cardiac arrest victims, time and quality treatment are really vital.

In the study conducted by Dyson, the researchers matched the cardiac arrest registry data to the ambulance employment database between the year 2003 and 2012 in Victoria, Australia. More than 48,000 cardiac arrests happened outside the hospital was noted and 44 percent of the cases attempted to resuscitate. Out of 4,000 paramedics in the area, half of them were exposed to at least two cardiac arrest situations.

Furthermore, only seven percent of patients treated by responders who had experienced six or fewer cardiac arrests cases over the previous three years had survived the arrest. On the other hand, 12 percent of victims survived if responded by paramedics who had observed and participated in seven or more cardiac arrests cases according to Huffpost Healthy Living.

Indeed, the revival skills are complex that is why professionals such as doctors, nurses and emergency medical responders, need to perform it with great quality to prevent the rapid deterioration of the patients. Therefore, the researchers believed that paramedics need exposure and training to prevent the decay of their resuscitation skills and improve the survival rate among out-of-the-hospital cardiac arrest patients they responded to as posted on Newsmax Health.