The survival of cardiac arrest patients is dependent on the efficient and timely application of the chain of survival. This includes early identification of cardiac arrest and activation of the emergency response system, high-quality cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), rapid defibrillation, basic and advanced medical services, and advanced life support and post-cardiac arrest care. However, some patients may be refractory to these measures. Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation CPR (ECPR), otherwise known as extracorporeal life support, offers an alternative to such refractory cardiac arrest cases. As hospitals have limited resources, it is important to devise effective patient selection methods, and improve our understanding and experience of ECPR to ensure the best outcome. It is also vital to understand that ECPR constitutes only one component of post-cardiac arrest care, which includes other aspects such as therapeutic hypothermia and early perfusion for best patient outcome.

INTRODUCTION: Early reperfusion of ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) results in better outcomes. Interventions that have resulted in shorter door-to-balloon (DTB) time include prehospital cardiovascular laboratory activation and prehospital electrocardiogram (ECG) transmission, which are only available for patients who arrive via emergency ambulances. We assessed the impact of mode of transport on DTB time in a single tertiary institution and evaluated the factors that affected various components of DTB time. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective cohort study using registry data of patients diagnosed with STEMI in the emergency department (ED) who underwent primary percutaneous coronary intervention. We compared patients who arrived by emergency ambulances with those who came via their own transport. The primary study end point was DTB, defined as the earliest time a patient arrived in the ED to balloon inflation. As deidentified data was used, ethics review was waived. RESULTS: A total of 321 patients were included for analysis after excluding 7 with missing data. The mean age was 61.4±11.4 years old with 49 (15.3%) females. Ninety-nine (30.8%) patients arrived by emergency ambulance. The median DTB time was shorter for patients arriving by ambulance versus own transport (52min, interquartile range [IQR] 45-61 vs 67min, IQR 59-74; CONCLUSION Arrival via emergency ambulance was associated with a decreased DTB for STEMI patients compared to arriving via own transport. There is a need for public education to increase the usage of emergency ambulances for suspected heart attacks to improve outcomes.
Aged ; Ambulances ; Angioplasty, Balloon, Coronary ; Female ; Humans ; Middle Aged ; Percutaneous Coronary Intervention ; Retrospective Studies ; Time Factors