Sean Sinden1, Matthieu Heidet2, Frank Scheuermeyer3, Takahisa Kawano4, Jennie S Helmer5, Jim Christenson3, Brian Grunau6. 1. Centre for Health Evaluation and Outcome Sciences, St. Paul's Hospital, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. 2. Assistance Publique-Hôpitaux de Paris (AP-HP), SAMU 94 and Emergency Department, University Hospital Henri Mondor, Créteil, France; University Paris-Est Créteil (UPEC), EA-4390 (ARCHeS), Créteil, France; Department of Emergency Medicine, University of British Columbia, British Columbia, Canada. 3. Centre for Health Evaluation and Outcome Sciences, St. Paul's Hospital, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada; Department of Emergency Medicine, University of British Columbia, British Columbia, Canada; St. Paul's Hospital, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. 4. Department of Emergency Medicine, University of Fukui Hospital, Fukui Prefecture, Japan. 5. BC Emergency Health Services, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. 6. Centre for Health Evaluation and Outcome Sciences, St. Paul's Hospital, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada; Department of Emergency Medicine, University of British Columbia, British Columbia, Canada; St. Paul's Hospital, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada; BC Emergency Health Services, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Electronic address: Brian.Grunau@ubc.ca.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Rapid emergency medical service (EMS) response after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) is a major determinant of survival, however this is typically measured until EMS vehicle arrival. We sought to investigate whether the interval from EMS vehicle arrival to patient attendance (curb-to-care interval [CTC]) was associated with patient outcomes. METHODS: We performed a secondary analysis of the "CCC Trial" dataset, which includes EMS-treated adult non-traumatic OHCA. We fit an adjusted logistic regression model to estimate the association between CTC interval (divided into quartiles) and the primary outcome (survival with favourable neurologic status at hospital discharge; mRS ≤ 3). We described the CTC interval distribution among enrolling clusters. RESULTS: We included 24,685 patients: median age was 68 (IQR 56-81), 23% had initial shockable rhythms, and 7.6% survived with favourable neurological status. Compared to the first quartile (≤62 s), longer CTC quartiles (63-115, 116-180, and ≥181 s) demonstrated the following associations with survival with favourable neurological status: adjusted odds ratios 0.95, 95% CI 0.83-1.09; 0.77, 95% CI 0.66-0.89; 0.66, 95% CI 0.56-0.77, respectively. Of the 49 study clusters, median CTC intervals ranged from 86 (IQR 58-130) to 179 s (IQR 112-256). CONCLUSION: A lower CTC interval was associated with improved patient outcomes. These results demonstrate a wide range of access metrics within North America, and provide a rationale to create protocols to mitigate access obstacles. A 2-min CTC threshold may represent an appropriate target for quality improvement.
BACKGROUND: Rapid emergency medical service (EMS) response after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) is a major determinant of survival, however this is typically measured until EMS vehicle arrival. We sought to investigate whether the interval from EMS vehicle arrival to patient attendance (curb-to-care interval [CTC]) was associated with patient outcomes. METHODS: We performed a secondary analysis of the "CCC Trial" dataset, which includes EMS-treated adult non-traumatic OHCA. We fit an adjusted logistic regression model to estimate the association between CTC interval (divided into quartiles) and the primary outcome (survival with favourable neurologic status at hospital discharge; mRS ≤ 3). We described the CTC interval distribution among enrolling clusters. RESULTS: We included 24,685 patients: median age was 68 (IQR 56-81), 23% had initial shockable rhythms, and 7.6% survived with favourable neurological status. Compared to the first quartile (≤62 s), longer CTC quartiles (63-115, 116-180, and ≥181 s) demonstrated the following associations with survival with favourable neurological status: adjusted odds ratios 0.95, 95% CI 0.83-1.09; 0.77, 95% CI 0.66-0.89; 0.66, 95% CI 0.56-0.77, respectively. Of the 49 study clusters, median CTC intervals ranged from 86 (IQR 58-130) to 179 s (IQR 112-256). CONCLUSION: A lower CTC interval was associated with improved patient outcomes. These results demonstrate a wide range of access metrics within North America, and provide a rationale to create protocols to mitigate access obstacles. A 2-min CTC threshold may represent an appropriate target for quality improvement.