Grant: Partnerships for Health System Improvement (PHSI)

<html> <body> <p> <strong><i>Introduction and Rationale</i></strong> </p> <p>Out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) is a major public health problem. More than 45,000 Canadians suffer OHCA annually, with only 8.4% surviving to hospital discharge. Early bystander cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and defibrillator use can save lives but are rarely done.</p> <p>Advances in mobile device technology have allowed the development of a system which can notify CPR-trained citizens within 400 meters of a possible cardiac arrest. The <strong>PulsePoint mobile device application</strong> (www.pulsepoint.org) empowers them to respond and provide basic life support while professional crews are being dispatched. When a mobile device receives the alert data from the PulsePoint system, the application presents a map showing the exact location of the emergency and the closest public access defibrillator.</p> <p> <strong><i>The question to be addressed:</i></strong> </p> <p>In patients who suffer non-traumatic, out-of-hospital cardiac arrest in a public location, does use of the PulsePoint system increase bystander CPR or defibrillator use compared to standard dispatch procedures?</p> <p> <strong><i>The nature of the core expertise being brought together to address the question or issue</i></strong> </p> <p>The project team for this grant includes senior and mid-career investigators with a long track record of successful collaboration in cardiac arrest clinical research. The Nominated Principal Applicant, Dr. Steven Brooks, is a mid-career Clinician-Scientist and investigator within the Canadian Resuscitation Outcomes Consortium, with experience leading clinical studies to test knowledge translation interventions. Dr. William Dick, the principal knowledge user applicant, is Vice President, Medical Programs at British Columbia Emergency Health Services. He is a senior executive decision-maker within this organization and has extensive experience in the implementation and evaluation of new medical programs in emergency care. The principal applicants are supported by a seasoned team of senior and mid-career investigators with a long history of leading clinical studies in cardiac arrest. Knowledge user co-applicants are all senior decision-makers in their respective agencies.</p> <p> <strong>Approach</strong> </p> <p>PulsePoint will be implemented in 4 regions across Canada (British Columbia, Winnipeg, Durham region, and Kingston) covering a population of 5.9 million. After a coordinated marketing campaign in each participating region to maximize the number of mobile device application downloads in the community, all 911 calls for suspected cardiac arrest will be randomized to conventional dispatch for suspected cardiac arrest versus conventional dispatch plus PulsePoint notifications. Our primary outcome will be bystander CPR or defibrillator use prior to professional responders arriving on scene. Our primary analysis will involve comparing outcomes between the control and treatment groups among all eligible randomized patients with cardiac arrest.</p> <p> <strong>Advancing knowledge and the application of knowledge</strong> </p> <p>We hypothesize that the PulsePoint system will have an immediate impact on increasing bystander CPR and defibrillator use in participating communities. In the long term, this project will provide valuable data on how effective PulsePoint is with respect to bystander resuscitation and survival. Our data will directly inform policy decisions about PulsePoint implementation in the participating communities and guide other Canadian jurisdictions around these policy decisions in the future.</p> </body> </html>