A service evaluation of a dedicated pre-hospital cardiac arrest response unit in the North East of England

Aim ‐ This article describes the introduction of a specialist cardiac arrest response unit by the North East Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust, with the aim of improving treatment and outcomes of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest patients, in the North East of England.

Methods ‐ This study is a retrospective analysis of prospectively collected data, describing all cases where the cardiac arrest response unit was dispatched in the first 12 months of operation (January 2014 to January 2015).

Results ‐ The cardiac arrest response unit was activated 333 times during the first year of operation and attended 164 out-of-hospital cardiac arrest patients. The cardiac arrest response unit demonstrated a significant impact on return of spontaneous circulation sustained to hospital (OR 1.74 (95% CI 1.19‐2.54), p = 0.004) and survival to discharge (OR 2.08 (95% CI 1.12‐3.84), p = 0.017) compared with the rest of the North East Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust.

Conclusion ‐ The cardiac arrest response unit project demonstrated an improvement in return of spontaneous circulation and survival to discharge compared to current standard care. The specific mechanism, or mechanisms, by which the cardiac arrest response unit influences patient outcomes remain to be determined.