Abstract
Background: Little is known about the provision of care by law enforcement (LE) personnel within modern EMS systems. We evaluated LE performance of bystander CPR (BCPR) and associated outcomes in OHCA across Arizona. Methods: A total of 5,654 OHCA cases (1/1/2019-12/31/2019) were evaluated using the Save Hearts in Arizona Registry and Education (SHARE) cardiac arrest registry. Data were abstracted from all EMS patient care records (PCRs). If two parties provided BCPR, the first to give compressions was considered the provider for this analysis. Cases identified as “Stranger” or “Unknown” BCPR were manually evaluated for narrative data to identify BCPR provider when possible. Results: BCPR was provided in 2285 cases [48.8%; (95% CIs 47.4%, 50.3%)] after excluding 850 cases that occurred in healthcare facilities where personnel are duty-bound to provide CPR. LE provided BCPR in 444 patients [19.4% (17.8%, 21.1%)], second only to family/spouse [1143 pts; 50.0% (48.0%, 52.1%)]. Overall, 279 patients survived to hospital discharge [12.2%, (10.9%, 13.6%)]. The Table shows the rates of BCPR in each provider category and the associated rates of survival. Of note is that the rate of bystander AED use was more than four times higher in LE BCPR [6.3% (4.23%, 8.99%)] than family-provided BCPR [1.5% (0.87%, 2.37%; p < 0.0001)], but was still very low. Conclusions: In this statewide study that included more than 130 EMS agencies from frontier to urban settings, LE personnel were frequently involved in the care of OHCA patients within the 911 system response. To our knowledge, this magnitude of provision of BCPR by LE (nearly one in five BCPR cases) has not been reported previously. Furthermore, the consequential rate of LE response to OHCA provides the opportunity to significantly increase AED use. Our findings support the widespread and intentional training of LE in CPR and AED use and has the potential to improve survival in diverse settings.
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