Background Variation in the incidence, survival rate and factors associated with survival
after cardiac arrest in Europe is reported. Some studies have tried to fill the knowledge
gap regarding the epidemiology of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest in Europe but were
unable to identify reasons for the reported differences. Therefore, the purpose of
this study was to describe European Emergency Medical Systems, particularly from the
perspective of country and ambulance service characteristics, cardiac arrest identification,
dispatch, treatment, and monitoring. Methods An online questionnaire with 51 questions
about ambulance and dispatch characteristics, on-scene management of cardiac arrest
and the availability and dataset in cardiac arrest registries, was sent to all national
coordinators who participated in the European Registry of Cardiac Arrest studies.
In addition, individual invitations were sent to the remaining European countries.
Results Participants from 28 European countries responded to the questionnaire. Results
were combined with official information on population density. Overall, the number
of Emergency Medical Service missions, level of training of personnel, availability
of Helicopter Emergency Medical Services and the involvement of first responders varied
across and within countries. There were similarities in team training, availability
of key resuscitation equipment and permission for ongoing performance of cardiopulmonary
resuscitation during transported. The quality of reporting to cardiac arrest registries
varied, as well as the data availability in the registries. Conclusions Throughout
Europe there are important differences in Emergency Medical Service systems and the
response to out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. Explaining these differences is complicated
due to significant variation in how variables are reported to and used in registries.
