The Ontario Prehospital Advanced Life Support (OPALS) Study: rationale and methodology for cardiac arrest patients.
The Ontario Prehospital Advanced Life Support Study represents the largest prehospital study yet conducted, worldwide. This study will involve more than 25,000 cardiac arrest, trauma, and critically ill patients over an 8-year period. The study will evaluate the incremental benefit of rapid defibrillation and prehospital Advanced Cardiac Life Support measures for cardiac arrest survival and the benefit of Advanced Life Support for patients with traumatic injuries and other critically ill prehospital patients. This article describes the OPALS study with regard to the rationale and methodology for cardiac arrest patients.
Department of Medicine, and Ottawa Hospital Loeb Research Institute, University of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
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Stiell
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Wells
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Lyver
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Munkley
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Field
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Dagnone
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DeMaio
D003362:Cost-Benefit Analysis; D003422:Critical Care / Q000191:economics; D004180:Direct Service Costs; D004358:Drug Therapy; D004554:Electric Countershock; D004632:Emergency Medical Services / Q000191:economics; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D006323:Heart Arrest / Q000628:therapy*; D006801:Humans; D007275:Injections, Intravenous; D007442:Intubation, Intratracheal; D008020:Life Support Care / Q000191:economics; D016015:Logistic Models; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009460:Neurologic Examination; D009864:Ontario; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D010351:Patient Discharge; D011788:Quality of Life; D012107:Research Design; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D015996:Survival Rate; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000628:therapy