Management of first responder programmes for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest during the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe.

ABSTRACT:

Aim

First responder (FR) programmes dispatch professional FRs (police and/or firefighters) or citizen responders to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and use automated external defibrillators (AED) in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA). We aimed to describe management of FR-programmes across Europe in response to the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

Methods

In June 2020, we conducted a cross-sectional survey sent to OHCA registry representatives in 18 European countries with active FR-programmes. The survey was administered by e-mail and included questions regarding management of both citizen responder and FR-programmes. A follow-up question was conducted in October 2020 assessing management during a potential "second wave" of COVID-19.

Results</

SUBMITTER: Andelius L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7778367 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature