Grant: Operating Grant

Cardiac arrest, also known as cardiopulmonary arrest, refers to the sudden failure of the heart to contract effectively. Cardiac arrest is different from a heart attack, which means an impairment of blood flow to the heart muscle itself. Out-of-hospital cardiac arrest is one of the deadliest conditions in modern medicine, with fewer than 10% of patients surviving. It is estimated that one out-of-hospital cardiac arrest happens every 12 minutes, affecting 40,000 patients in Canada each year. Although great progress has been made in the treatment for many heart conditions, the prognosis of cardiac arrest has not improved over the last thirty years. In addition, there is wide variation in the survival rate of patients in different regions of Canada, suggesting great potential for improvement. The main objective of this grant is to rigorously evaluate the patient characteristics and treatment-related factors that are associated with regional variation in mortality. Secondary objectives include examining pre-hospital and hospital quality of care for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, and determining the association of existing quality indicators with mortality. These projects will reveal areas in need of improvement, directing targeted interventions that could lead to better quality of care and outcomes. These ambitious projects are made possible by the joint collaboration of world leaders in cardiac arrest research, and scientists with extensive experience in quality improvement. This collaboration also unites the largest, most detailed clinical cardiac arrest database (EPISTRY) with population-level administrative data at the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences (ICES). We anticipate the results of this grant proposal will have an important impact on the future care and outcomes of patients with cardiac arrest.