Abstract PR012

Abstract

Background & Objectives: Sudden cardiac arrest is one of the leading causes of death in Europe (1). It leads 300,000 deaths annually in the United States (2) while it is poorly documented in our country. Emergency prehospital services are involved in their management. The aim of this study is to describe the management of non-traumatic out of hospital cardiac arrests occurring in Abidjan Materials & Methods: Retrospective and descriptive study during one year from january to december 2014. All calls arriving to medical dispatcher center with probability of cardiac arrest were included. Patients in cardiac arrest for another reason were not included Parameters studied were: epidemiological factors: age and sex. Reason for the phone calling, time ellapsed between the patient collapse to the call of medical service center, time taken for the ambulance to arrive on the scene, first aid techniques provided by the witness, past medical history, medical management by the rescue team, patients outcomes Results: 2073 medical cases were processed during the period. Ambulances came out in 1873 times. 110 calls related to cardiac arrest representing 5.87% of the total calls to the medical dispatcher center. Sex ratio was 2.9 The average age was 59 years ranging from 34 to 87 years. Medical histories were known in 5 % of cases, among them 90% high blood pressure history and 10% of coronary disease. 45% of calls was for death attestation. 36% for patient in coma. discomfort and weakness account for 16% and chest pain 3% of calls. Time between patient collapsed and and call to medical dispatcher range from 20 min to more than a hour. Medical rescue team arrived at the scene within 15 minutes ranging time to one hour and ten minutes. 96% of patient died without received any resuscitation care. 4% of them received chest compressions by witnesses. Asystole was the cardiac rythm found after assessment by medical rescue team. During the management by medical team, three of them received an external electric shock using automated external defibrillator Epinephrine with doses range from 10 mg to 100 mg when used. No patients survived Conclusion: The frequency of sudden cardiac arrest is high but underestimated in our country. Ignorance and cultural habits prevent to practice CPR by first witnesses. broking the “chain of survival “ Training the population for basic resuscitation and first aid as well as medical staff could improve the outcomes of these patients. Having AED in public places is a necessity.