title: Description of the ambulance services participating in the Aus-ROC Australian and New Zealand out-of-hospital cardiac arrest Epistry.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The present study aimed to describe and examine similarities and differences in the current service provision and resuscitation protocols of the ambulance services participating in the Aus-ROC Australian and New Zealand out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) Epistry. Understanding these similarities and differences is important in identifying ambulance service factors that might explain regional variation in survival of OHCA in the Aus-ROC Epistry.
  
  
  METHODS
  A structured questionnaire was completed by each of the ambulance services participating in the Aus-ROC Epistry. These ambulance services were SA Ambulance Service, Ambulance Victoria, St John Ambulance Western Australia, Queensland Ambulance Service, St John Ambulance NT, St John New Zealand and Wellington Free Ambulance. The survey aimed to describe ambulance service and dispatch characteristics, resuscitation protocols and details of cardiac arrest registries.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We observed similarities between services with respect to the treatment of OHCA and dispatch systems. Differences between services were observed in the serviced population; the proportion of paramedics with basic life support, advanced life support or intensive care training skills; the number of OHCA cases attended; guidelines related to withholding or terminating resuscitation attempts; and the variables that might be used to define 'attempted resuscitation'. All seven participating ambulance services were noted to have existing OHCA registries.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  There is marked variation between ambulance services currently participating in the Aus-ROC Australian and New Zealand OHCA Epistry with respect to workforce characteristics and key variable definitions. This variation between ambulance services might account for a proportion of the regional variation in survival of OHCA.
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
authors.forename: Ben
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3262-5956
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Beck
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.|Prehospital, Resuscitation and Emergency Care Research Unit (PRECRU), Curtin University, Perth, Western Australia, Australia.
authors.forename: Janet E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Bray
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.|Department of Research and Evaluation, Ambulance Victoria, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.|Discipline of Emergency Medicine, University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia, Australia.
authors.forename: Karen
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9057-0685
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.affiliation: Department of Research and Evaluation, Ambulance Victoria, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
authors.forename: Tony
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Walker
authors.affiliation: Department of Paramedics, Flinders University, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.|SA Ambulance Service, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.
authors.forename: Hugh
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Grantham
authors.affiliation: Department of Paramedics, Flinders University, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.|SA Ambulance Service, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.
authors.forename: Cindy
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Hein
authors.affiliation: SA Ambulance Service, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.
authors.forename: Melanie
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Thorrowgood
authors.affiliation: St John Ambulance Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia, Australia.
authors.forename: Anthony
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.affiliation: Prehospital, Resuscitation and Emergency Care Research Unit (PRECRU), Curtin University, Perth, Western Australia, Australia.
authors.forename: Madoka
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Inoue
authors.affiliation: St John New Zealand, Auckland, New Zealand.
authors.forename: Tony
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.affiliation: St John New Zealand, Auckland, New Zealand.|Department of Paramedicine, Auckland University of Technology, Auckland, New Zealand.
authors.forename: Bridget
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Dicker
authors.affiliation: Department of Paramedicine, Auckland University of Technology, Auckland, New Zealand.|Wellington Free Ambulance, Wellington, New Zealand.|Department of Surgery and Anaesthesia, University of Otago, Wellington, New Zealand.
authors.forename: Andy
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Swain
authors.affiliation: Queensland Ambulance Service, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.|School of Clinical Sciences, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
authors.forename: Emma
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Bosley
authors.affiliation: Queensland Ambulance Service, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
authors.forename: Katherine
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Pemberton
authors.affiliation: St John Ambulance NT, Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: McKay
authors.affiliation: St John Ambulance NT, Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia.
authors.forename: Malcolm
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Johnston-Leek
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.|Emergency and Trauma Centre, The Alfred, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Cameron
authors.affiliation: Warwick Medical School, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK.
authors.forename: Gavin D
authors.initials: GD
authors.lastname: Perkins
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.|Prehospital, Resuscitation and Emergency Care Research Unit (PRECRU), Curtin University, Perth, Western Australia, Australia.|Discipline of Emergency Medicine, University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia, Australia.|St John Ambulance Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia, Australia.
authors.forename: Judith
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Finn
mesh_terms: D001315:Australia; D016887:Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation / Q000379:methods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D004632:Emergency Medical Services / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006280:Health Workforce / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009520:New Zealand; D058687:Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest / Q000628:therapy*
keywords: emergency medical service; epidemiology; out-of-hospital cardiac arrest; paramedic; registry; survey