title: [Who observes out-of-hospital cardiac arrests in Germany?].
abstract: BACKGROUND
  It still remains unknown why there are so poor rates of lay-resuscitation in Germany. We wanted to find out who observes the out-of-hospital cardiac arrests (OHCA) in Germany.
  
  
  METHODS
  All patients who were admitted in our hospital between January, 1st 2008 and December, 31st 2013 following non-traumatic OHCA were identified and the patients' data were stored on a central data base.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Data on 204 patients (124 male [60,8 %], 80 female [39,2 %], aged 69,1 ± 14,2 years [range 18-97 years]) were analysed. Altogether, 137 OHCA were witnessed (67,2 %): 83 cases (40,7 %) by laypersons and 54 further cases (26,5 %) by medical professionals. Among laypersons, most OHCA were witnessed by the partner (17,2 %) and further relatives (11,8 %) but resuscitation rates among partner (3,9 %) and relatives (5,9 %) were poor. Altogether, immediate resuscitation attempts were started in 93 patients, hereunder in 35 cases (17,2 %) by layperson and 58 cases (28,4 %) by medical professionals.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Rates of lay-resuscitation remain poor despite high rates of witnessed events: unfortunately, especially partner and relatives act too rarely. However, the motivation to approve their knowledge in first-aid and resuscitation might rise among lays if they are informed that it is more likely to observe a partner's or relative´s OHCA than a stranger's.
authors.affiliation: Kardiologie und Angiologie, Medizinische Klinik II, Marienhospital Herne, Ruhr-Universität Bochum.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Christ
authors.affiliation: Kardiologie und Angiologie, Medizinische Klinik II, Marienhospital Herne, Ruhr-Universität Bochum.
authors.forename: K I
authors.initials: KI
authors.lastname: von Auenmüller
authors.affiliation: Kardiologie und Angiologie, Medizinische Klinik II, Marienhospital Herne, Ruhr-Universität Bochum.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Grett
authors.affiliation: Kardiologie und Angiologie, Medizinische Klinik II, Marienhospital Herne, Ruhr-Universität Bochum.
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Dierschke
authors.affiliation: Kardiologie und Angiologie, Medizinische Klinik II, Marienhospital Herne, Ruhr-Universität Bochum.
authors.forename: H-J
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Trappe
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D016887:Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D017028:Caregivers / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D060731:Emergency Responders; D005260:Female; D005858:Germany; D006297:Health Services Accessibility / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D058687:Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000628:therapy*; D014600:Utilization Review / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D055815:Young Adult