Cardiac arrest (CA) in children is associated with high mortality rates. In Korea, cohort studies regarding the outcomes of pediatric CAs are lacking, especially in emergency departments (EDs) or in-hospital settings. This study was conducted to examine the trends in epidemiology and survival outcomes in children with resuscitation-attempted CAs using data from a cross-sectional, national, ED-based clinical registry. We extracted cases in which cardiopulmonary resuscitation and/or manual defibrillation were performed according to treatment codes using the National Emergency Department Information System (NEDIS) from 2008 to 2012. The total number of ED visits registered in the NEDIS during the 5-yr evaluation period was 20,424,530; among these, there were 2,970 resuscitation-attempted CAs in children. The annual rates of pediatric CAs per 1,000 ED visits showed an upward trend from 2.81 in 2009 to 3.62 in 2012 (P for trend = 0.045). The median number of estimated pediatric CAs at each ED was 7.8 (25th to 75th percentile, 4 to 13) per year. The overall rates for admission survival and discharge survival were 35.2% and 12.8%, respectively. The survival outcome of adults increased substantially over the past 5 yr (11.8% in 2008, 11.7% in 2010, and 13.6% in 2012; P for trend = 0.001); however, the results for children did not improve (13.6% in 2008, 11.4% in 2010, and 13.7% in 2012; P for trend = 0.870). Conclusively, we found that the overall incidence of pediatric CAs in EDs increased substantially over the past 5 yr, but without significantly higher survival outcomes.
Adolescent ; Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation/*mortality ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Emergency Service, Hospital/*statistics & numerical data ; Female ; Heart Arrest/*epidemiology/*prevention & control ; *Hospital Mortality ; Humans ; Incidence ; Infant ; Male ; *Registries ; Republic of Korea/epidemiology ; Risk Factors ; Survival Rate ; Treatment Outcome ; Young Adult

The change of compressing personnel will inevitably accompany hands off time when cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is performed by two or more rescuers. The present study assessed whether changing compression by a second rescuer located on the opposite side (OS) of the first rescuer can reduce hands-off time compared to CPR on the same side (SS) when CPR is performed by two rescuers. The scenario of this randomized, controlled, parallel simulation study was compression-only CPR by two laypersons in a pre-hospital situation. Considering sex ratio, 64 participants were matched up in 32 teams equally divided into two gender groups, i.e. , homogenous or heterogeneous. Each team was finally allocated to one of two study groups according to the position of changing compression (SS or OS). Every team performed chest compression for 8 min and 10 sec, with chest compression changed every 2 min. The primary endpoint was cumulative hands-off time. Cumulative hands-off time of the SS group was about 2 sec longer than the OS group, and was significant (6.6 +/- 2.6 sec vs. 4.5 +/- 1.5 sec, P = 0.005). The range of hands off time of the SS group was wider than for the OS group. The mean hands-off times of each rescuer turn significantly shortened with increasing number of turns (P = 0.005). A subgroup analysis in which cumulative hands-off time was divided into three subgroups in 5-sec intervals revealed that about 70% of the SS group was included in subgroups with delayed hands-off time > or = 5 sec, with only 25% of the OS group included in these subgroups (P = 0.033). Changing compression at the OS of each rescuer reduced hands-off time compared to the SS in prehospital hands-only CPR provided by two bystanders.
Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation/methods/*statistics & numerical data ; Clinical Competence/*statistics & numerical data ; Emergency Medical Services/*statistics & numerical data ; Female ; Heart Arrest/epidemiology/*prevention & control ; Heart Massage/methods/*statistics & numerical data ; Humans ; Male ; Republic of Korea/epidemiology ; Treatment Outcome ; Workload/*statistics & numerical data ; Young Adult