Definition
Cardiac Arrest with Pulse: The percentage of patients who experience Return of Spontaneous Circulation (ROSC, or return of pulses), after suffering a cardiac arrest. This data looks at cardiac arrest of presumed cardiac etiology.
Why is this important?
Cardiac arrest is a fatal event unless medical care is provided quickly. Key components of a successful resuscitation are early CPR, rapid defibrillation, and in some cases, therapeutic hypothermia, or cooling of the patient. Cardiac arrest is a great example of how citizen involvement can make a difference. Initiatives that teach CPR to the public are an important part of successfully treating cardiac arrest. These programs, with widespread availability of Automatic External Defibrillators (AED), improve the chances of a positive outcome. This measure tells how often we successfully resuscitate patients with cardiac arrest (of presumed cardiac etiology).
Austin-Travis County EMS Medics respond to approximately 500 cardiac arrests (presumed cardiac etiology) each year. Our standards of care are based on evidence, and are constantly evaluated for efficacy through collaborations and sharing of data. Two examples are participation in the Cardiac Arrest Registry to Enhance Survival (CARES), and the AHA Mission Lifeline initiative.
NOTE: We recently reviewed and updated our clinical audit processes. As part of the update, we adjusted data filters to ensure consistent measurement across the various clinical indicators we report. These changes may result in a small amount of variation from previously reported results.
This measure relates to our Strategic Goals for Service and Finance- S1, S2, S3, F2, and F3:
S1: To be an organization that strives to improve the lives of people in our community.
S2: To have a service delivery model that best serves the needs of our community.
S3: To be an organization that puts service before self.
F2: To be an organization that provides value to the community.
F3: To provide quality cost efficient service to the community.
Performance Measure Definition (PDF)
View the Austin-Travis County EMS Strategic Plan (PDF)