title: The continuous quality improvement project for telephone-assisted instruction of cardiopulmonary resuscitation increased the incidence of bystander CPR and improved the outcomes of out-of-hospital cardiac arrests.
abstract: METHODS
  In 2007, the Ishikawa Medical Control Council initiated the continuous quality improvement (CQI) project for telephone-assisted cardiopulmonary resuscitation (telephone-CPR), which included instruction on chest-compression-only CPR, education on how to recognise out-of-hospital cardiac arrests (OHCAs) with agonal breathing, emesis and convulsion, recommendations for on-line or redialling instructions and feedback from emergency physicians. This study aimed to investigate the effect of this project on the incidence of bystander CPR and the outcomes of OHCAs.
  
  
  METHODS
  The baseline data were prospectively collected on 4995 resuscitation-attempted OHCAs, which were recognised or witnessed by citizens rather than emergency medical technicians during the period of February 2004 to March 2010. The incidence of telephone-CPR and bystander CPR, as well as the outcomes of the OHCAs, was compared before and after the project.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The incidence of telephone-CPR and bystander CPR significantly increased after the project (from 42% to 62% and from 41% to 56%, respectively). The incidence of failed telephone-CPR due to human factors significantly decreased from 30% to 16%. The outcomes of OHCAs significantly improved after the projects. A multiple logistic regression analysis revealed that the CQI project is one of the independent factors associated with one-year (1-Y) survival with favourable neurological outcomes (odds ratio=1.81, 95% confidence interval=1.20-2.76).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The CQI project for telephone-CPR increased the incidence of bystander CPR and improved the outcome of OHCAs. A CQI project appeared to be essential to augment the effects of telephone-CPR.
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency Medical Science, Kanazawa University Graduate School of Medicine, Kanazawa, Japan.
authors.forename: Yoshio
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Tanaka
authors.forename: Junro
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Taniguchi
authors.forename: Yukihiro
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wato
authors.forename: Yutaka
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yoshida
authors.forename: Hideo
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Inaba
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D016887:Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation / Q000592:standards* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D058687:Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest / Q000628:therapy*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D058996:Quality Improvement; D013689:Telephone; D016896:Treatment Outcome