[Lombardia CARe: the first 10 years of the out-of-hospital cardiac arrest registry of the Lombardy Region. Measuring to improve]

Abstract

Out-of-hospital cardiac arrest is one of the leading causes of death in developed countries and is a real challenge because survival rates are still very low, often less than 10%. Cardiac arrest registries have proven to be an essential tool in improving the survival of cardiac arrest victims, as they allow us to measure the phenomenon and consequently improve treatment. Ten years ago, we have started collecting data in the province of Pavia, then extended to the provinces of Brescia, Como, Cremona, Lodi, Mantua and Varese, with the aim of achieving regional coverage. The systematic and automatic collection of data has allowed us to monitor numerically and geographically many aspects of cardiac arrest, thus answering many questions and providing evidence that can lead to improvements in the system and care. The purpose of this review is to share the potential of a regional registry to bring the cardiology community closer to this topic, so that other registries can be created and grow in the hope of merging them into a national registry in the future.