Your chances of surviving cardiac arrest outside of a hospital are remote (in the one, two, and three percent range), unless you happen to be in Seattle, Washington, where your chances rise to a lofty 16 percent. It turns out that where you have The Big One has a great deal to do with whether you live or die. “It’s like real estate—location, location, location,” in the words of Dr. Arthur Sanders, a professor of emergency medicine at the University of Arizona.
Information about the link between location and the survival of cardiac arrest comes from a new study by Dr. Graham Nichol, who is director of the University of Washington’s Center for Prehospital Emergency Care. His study looked at the outcomes of cardiac arrest in ten cities and states, from New York to California, and showed that survival from place to place often varied by a factor of five. While Seattle flies high at 16 percent, highfalutin metropolises like New York City, Los Angeles, and Chicago scrape bottom at one and two percent.
Why such a big difference? Dr. Nichol says there are three reasons: first, he says that while Seattle tracks the outcomes of cardiac arrest patients, most other cities don’t, which leaves them without any information or statistics to use in determining whether what they are doing is good or bad.
Second, Nichol notes that Seattle has a highly structured EMS system that is constantly monitored by doctors to make certain everything is operating at optimum levels. Such monitoring is uncommon in many areas, and some EMS systems are staffed by volunteers, rather than trained professionals.
Third, through a vigorous public-service campaign, the public itself in Seattle is well-informed about how to recognize cardiac arrest, and what to do about it.
Nichol emphasizes that wherever you are when stricken, the paramount factor is rapid treatment. “Survival depends,” he says, “on how quickly you recognize the problem and respond—how quickly you start CPR, how quickly you provide a defibrillator and how quickly you cool the patient to protect the brain.”
© 2008 Newsmax. All rights reserved.
|
