The chain of survival. A review in year 2000.
Worldwide about 1 in 1000 adults every year has a sudden cardiac arrest in out-of-hospital. That means 350,000-400,000 persons in the USA alone, 60,000 persons in Italy. Over 70% of times sudden cardiac arrest occurs at home, the remaining 30% in public settings. The chain of survival concept emphasizes four links associated with survival after sudden cardiac arrest corresponding each with a set of actions that have been done as soon as possible--the early access, the early CPR, the early defibrillation, the early ACLS; in order to develop strength in each link, separate specialized programs are needed, but all of the links must be well connected. The Utstein Style was developed by a task force who suggested a series of recommendations as a starting point for more effective exchange of information about out-of hospital cardiac arrest. The Utstein Style includes a glossary of terms, a template for reporting data from resuscitation studies on cardiac arrest, definitions for time points and time intervals related to an intervention in a resuscitation attempt, definitions of clinical items and outcomes that should be included in reports, and recommendations for the descriptions for how different EMS systems are organized.
Gullo
A
A
Department of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care, Trieste University School of Medicine.
Sallusti
R
R
Trillò
G
G
D016887:Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation; D004554:Electric Countershock; D006323:Heart Arrest / Q000401:mortality*; D006801:Humans; D013534:Survival