Abstract

Rationale: Different Utstein based reporting systems are used for research purpose in resuscitative medicine worldwide and resuscitation attempts data are available from different countries. In Romania, the only data available has been from the previous work in the Emergency Department of “Sf. Pantelimon” Emergency Hospital, since 2006.

Objective: This study was conducted to describe the characteristics of the cardiac arrest event in our Emergency Department (ED) and to identify factors associated with the outcome and the event itself.

Methods and Results: This descriptive study refers to the resuscitation attempts performed in the ED of our hospital between January 1st 2011 and December 31st 2011, following the Guidelines of the European Resuscitation Council 2010. The data used were gathered from the observational sheets. The reporting form used is Utstein-based, referring to the patient characteristics, event and outcome. A number of 81 cases have been analyzed; in 33 cases (40.74%), the cardiac arrest occurred out of the hospital. The return of the spontaneous circulation (ROSC) occurred in 25 patients (30.86%), with 12% discharged alive. The most common cause of arrest was the myocardial infarction. The first rhythm monitored was non-shockable in 92.59% of the cases. However, 24 patients developed a shockable rhythm at some point during the resuscitation and 37.5% of these experienced ROSC.

Discussion: The Utstein- based reporting system used provides a standardized, comprehensive method for data collection. Further research is needed in order to obtain valuable data with statistic relevance. Conclusions related to the aspects of the population in the area the hospital serves can be drawn.