An international, prospective, multi-centre, three-month survey of epidemiology, treatment and outcome of patients suffering an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest in Europe
In October 2017, the European Resuscitation Council (ERC), together with national resuscitation registries and resuscitation councils, will commence the second European-wide study of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA). Sudden OHCA is the third leading cause of death in industrialised nations. In Europe, more than 350,000 patients are affected every year. And 100.000 could be saved if lay resuscitation – giving chest-compressions immediately and before arrival of the emergency medical services (EMS) – was improved all over Europe.
The aim of the EuReCa TWO study is to create a detailed overview of epidemiology, lay resuscitation rates, treatment and outcome of patients suffering from OHCA in Europe. This will be a solid basis to help save many patients. The EuReCa ONE study in 2014, collected data from over 10,000 cases of OHCA from 27 European countries in one month. The duration of the EuReCa TWO study is extended to three months and has a special focus on lay resuscitation, i.e. bystander resuscitation. It also focuses on the unique aspects of the EMS in each participating country.
EuReCa TWO data collection will commence on 1st October 2017 and will end on 31st December 2017. In order to allow comparison of results with other international registries, data collection will be based on the Utstein data template, with some additional data points.
The EuReCa TWO study is organized by an international steering committee, bringing together some of the most experienced scientists in resuscitation research. The study management team is led by the principal investigator Jan-Thorsten Gräsner, MD of the German Resuscitation Registry. The study is supported by the ERC and the ERC Director of Science and Research, Bernd W. Böttiger, MD who is a member of the steering committee.
As stated by Jan-Thorsten Gräsner, MD:
“In order to improve the rate of survival following OHCA, it is important to know as much as possible about the treatment and epidemiology in different European countries. This knowledge will enable us to refine the guidelines for cardiopulmonary resuscitation in the future”
Uniform data collection, reporting of epidemiology, management and outcome of cardiac arrest, is essential information in improving the quality of treatment for cardiac arrest patients.
In order to establish a European database with uniform and reliable data, the ERC decided that a European Registry of Cardiac Arrest (EuReCa) was a high priority. EuReCa was established in 2008 with the objective of creating a uniform, Utstein-based recording of incidence, characteristics, interventions and outcome of cardiac arrest.
EuReCa stimulates a culture of collaboration between health care professionals and scientists, and creates a sense of urgency for improving quality in line with the objective of ERC: “To preserve human life by making high quality resuscitation available to all”.
Europe is typically characterised by a wide variety of EMS structures and organisations. Understanding differences between regions and countries is a major challenge for EuReCa.
EuReCa is a big family, now covering 29 European countries with a population of more than 175 million, Every participant, large or small, understands the strength of uniform reporting, and its power for benchmarking quality of care. The key for success is that each participating region has an equal voice in the planning and organisation of specific studies, such as EuReCa-ONE and EuReCa-TWO and the many studies to follow.
“The 29 EuReCa-participants showed not only that good quality registration of cardiac arrest and resuscitation is feasible, but also that benchmarking, feedback and learning from each other are powerful mechanisms for improving quality. These are strong incentives for the remaining European regions to join the EuReCa family,” said Leo Bossaert, MD, a founding father of ERC and EuReCa.