Dispatcher Assistance in Out-of-hospital Cardiac Arrest: Approaches for Diagnosing Cardiac Arrest by Telephone

Abstract

Rapid recognition of cardiac arrest based on the data reported by a bystander, and delivering telephone cardiopulmonary resuscitation instructions by emergency medical services (EMS) dispatcher promote timely provision of frst aid by people who witness the emergency, and this may signifcantly influence the outcome of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA). This review is aimed to analyze the up-to-date scientifc literature on EMS dispatcher recognition of OHCA. In particular, general concept and experience of algorithm-based diagnosis of cardiac arrest, diffculties of telephone OHCA recognition, approaches for dispatcher diagnosis quality evaluation and assurance are discussed herein. Based on the analysis results, recommendations on organizing and improving the effectiveness of EMS dispatcher recognition of cardiac arrest are formulated. The review is designed primarily for EMS and public health specialists.

Keywords

• cardiac arrest
• circulatory arrest
• dispatcher
• cardiopulmonary resuscitation
• diagnosis
• algorithm
• emergency medical services
• frst aid