Mobile smartphone technology is associated with better clinical outcomes for OHCA
In France, the introduction of the mobile application “Staying Alive” (a free mobile smartphone application, available in 18 languages and compatible with all operating systems) improved healthcare delivery and OHCA survival outcomes within one year in the Greater Paris area (July 2017 to 2018).
The application allows registered first responders, commonly referred to as “Bons Samaritains” (BS), located near an OHCA scene, to be alerted via a “push notification.” Upon acknowledgment of the notification, available BS are directed toward the scene of OHCA and receive a map of AEDs in the area.
SA is available on all smartphone platforms and uses geolocalization services to flag nearby AEDs. It was first integrated to the Paris Fire Brigade Greater Paris Area CPR protocols in 2017.
The study researchers concluded that smartphone apps that match trained responders to nearby cardiac arrest victims may be a valuable way to improve response times in out of hospital cardiae arrest; however, their impact on clinical outcomes and overall cost effectiveness remains unclear.
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Source:
Society for Academic Emergency Medicine
Journal Reference:
Mobile Smartphone Technology Is Associated With Out‐of‐hospital Cardiac Arrest Survival Improvement: The First Year “Greater Paris Fire Brigade” Experience
Abstract
Background
Out‐of‐hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) remains associated with very high mortality. Accelerating the initiation of efficient cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is widely perceived as key to improving outcomes. The main goal was to determine whether identification and activation of nearby first responders through a smartphone application named Staying Alive (SA) can improve survival following OHCA in a large urban area (Paris).
Methods
We conducted a nonrandomized cohort study of all adults with OHCA managed by the Greater Paris Fire Brigade during 2018, irrespective of mobile application usage. We compared survival data in cases where SA did or did not lead to the activation of nearby first responders. During dispatch, calls for OHCA were managed with or without SA.
The intervention group included all cases where nearby first responders were successfully identified by SA and actively contributed to CPR. The control group included all other cases. We compared survival at hospital discharge between the intervention and control groups. We analyzed patient data, CPR metrics, and first responders’ characteristics.
Results
Approximately 4,107 OHCA cases were recorded in 2018. Among those, 320 patients were in the control group, whereas 46 patients, in the intervention group, received first responder–initiated CPR. After adjustment for confounders, survival at hospital discharge was significantly improved for patients in the intervention group (35% vs. 16%, adjusted odds ratio = 5.9, 95% confidence interval = 2.1 to 16.5, p < 0.001). All CPR metrics were improved in the intervention group.
Conclusions
We report that mobile smartphone technology was associated with OHCA survival through accelerated initiation of efficient CPR by first responders in a large urban area.
