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. 2021 Aug:46:628-633.
doi: 10.1016/j.ajem.2020.11.059. Epub 2020 Dec 2.

The association between scene time interval and neurologic outcome following adult bystander witnessed out-of-hospital cardiac arrest

Ryan A Coute  1 , Brian H Nathanson  2 , Michael C Kurz  3 , Bryan McNally  4 , Timothy J Mader  5 ; CARES Surveillance Group  6
Affiliations

The association between scene time interval and neurologic outcome following adult bystander witnessed out-of-hospital cardiac arrest

Ryan A Coute et al. Am J Emerg Med. 2021 Aug.

Abstract

Objective: To analyze the association between Emergency Medical Services (EMS) scene time interval (STI) and survival with functional neurologic recovery following adult out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA).

Methods: A retrospective analysis of prospectively collected data from the national Cardiac Arrest Registry to Enhance Survival from January 2013 to December 2018. All adult non-traumatic, EMS-treated, bystander-witnessed OHCA with complete data were included. Patients with STI times >60 min, defined as the time from EMS arrival at the patient's side to the time the transport vehicle left the scene, unwitnessed OHCA, nursing home events, EMS-witnessed OHCA, or patients with termination of resuscitation in the field were excluded. The primary outcome was survival with functional recovery (Cerebral Performance Category [CPC] = 1 or 2). Multivariable logistic regression was used to quantify the association of STI with the primary.

Results: 67,237 patients met inclusion criteria with 12,098 (18.0%) surviving with functional recovery. Mean STI (SD) for survivors with CPC 1 or 2 was 19 (8.4) and 22.8 (10.5) for those with poor outcomes (death or CPC 3-4; p < 0.001). For every 1-min increase in STI, the adjusted odds of a poor outcome increased by 3.5%; odds ratio = 1.035; 95% CI (1.027, 1.044); p < 0.001. Restricted cubic spline analysis showed increased risk of poor outcome after approximately 20 min.

Conclusion: Longer STI times are strongly associated with poor neurologic outcome in bystander-witnessed OHCA patients. After a STI duration of approximately 20 min, the associated risk of a poor neurologic outcome increased more rapidly.

Keywords: Emergency medical services; Neurologic outcome; Out-of-hospital cardiac arrest.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of Competing Interest RAC: Society for Academic Emergency Medicine (SAEM) Resident Research Grant; BHN: Baystate Health paid BHN's company, OptiStatim, LLC a consulting fee for statistical services related to the manuscript; MCK: is funded by NIH5U01DK096037 (Site PI); K23AG038548 (Site PI); R01GM101197 (Site PI); R01GM103799 (Site PI), American Heart Association, Society for Critical Care Medicine, Emergency Medicine Foundation, Zoll Medical Foundation, Rapid Pathogen Screening Inc., Boehringer-Ingelheim, Abbott, Stryker Corporation and Zoll Medical Corporation to the University of Alabama at Birmingham. He has also personally received honoraria from Zoll Medical Corporation; BM: none; TJM: none. CARES receives funding from the American Red Cross and the American Heart Association.

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