HOT SPRINGS -- Patients who suffered an out-of-hospital non-traumatic sudden cardiac arrest in the Hot Springs area in 2018 had a survival rate average of 17%, compared with the national average of 10%, according to the 2018 Sudden Cardiac Arrest Report recently released by LifeNet Inc.
In 2018, LifeNet responded to 376 calls for patients who had suffered sudden cardiac arrest in its Hot Springs Division, which includes Hot Springs, Hot Springs Village, Malvern, Garland County, and portions of Hot Spring County, according to a news release accompanying the report.
LifeNet attempted resuscitation on 165 of the patients, resulting in 118 transports to the hospital and 47 field terminations. Forty-four percent of the patients had return of spontaneous circulation, while 28 patients survived to discharge, for a survival percentage of 17%.
Outcomes for specific areas in the report includes:
• Hot Springs -- 145 sudden cardiac arrest victims; 66 attempted resuscitations; 17 patients survived to discharge; 26% survival rate.
• Hot Springs Village -- 84 sudden cardiac arrest victims; 29 attempted resuscitations; four patients survived to discharge; 14% survival rate.
• Malvern -- 49 sudden cardiac arrest victims; 15 attempted resuscitations; four patients survived to discharge; 27% survival rate.
"It takes everyone in the Chain of Survival to save a patient who goes into sudden cardiac arrest. Of the 28 people who survived in our Hot Springs Division, 23 of the events were witnessed by a bystander," Jason Gartner, general manager of LifeNet's Hot Springs Division, said in the release.
"The Chain of Survival includes timely and effective interventions from the bystander or family member who witnesses the event and begins CPR and use of an AED," Gartner said.
An automated external defibrillator is a medical device now available in many public areas and businesses that analyzes the heart's rhythm and, if necessary, delivers an electrical shock, or defibrillation, to help the heart re-establish an effective rhythm.
"It is a wonderful device that will save lives, and we need more of these in the community. We want everyone to know CPR, and we want every street corner to have an AED," David Baumgardner, LifeNet's CEO, said in the release.
"LifeNet offers a matching fund program to help nonprofits and first-responder organizations purchase AEDs. We believe it is important to help equip the people most likely to respond first on scene with the tools they need to improve a patient's chance of survival."
LifeNet offers free bystander CPR and defibrillator training classes to groups of 10 or more people.
"It is now recommended that the non-medical bystander perform hands-only CPR without mouth-to-mouth breaths if they see a teen or adult suddenly collapse in an out-of-hospital setting. Our goal with the free training classes is to teach the community how to do quality chest compressions and use an AED," Tina Bell, director of public relations for LifeNet, said in the release.
"When someone goes into cardiac arrest, the body has enough residual oxygen in it that a bystander should be able to do hands-only CPR until a first responder can get there to provide oxygen," Bell said.
Gartner said LifeNet reports on sudden cardiac arrest statistics in the area "as a way to raise awareness in the public and also internally, as a way to review and look for ways to improve survival rates."
"Our clinical staff reviews and reports on every adult patient whose sudden cardiac arrest is deemed to be of a medical, non-traumatic, origin," Gartner said.
Metro on 06/17/2019