Survival from cardiac arrest in an accident and emergency department: the impact of out of hospital advisory defibrillation.

A prospective 1-year audit of cardiac arrests treated in the Accident and Emergency department of the Royal Infirmary, Edinburgh is presented. During the period January 1st, 1991 to December 31st, 1991, 325 patients with cardiac arrest were treated. Two-hundred ninety-seven of these were 'out-of-hospital' and 28 were 'in-department' arrests. Of patients with 'out-of-hospital' ventricular fibrillation/pulseless ventricular tachycardia 22.8% were discharged. Survival rates for patients with asystole or electromechanical dissociation were very poor. The impact of semiautomatic out-of-hospital defibrillation upon the survival and number of patients presenting to the department is discussed.