Posted on 01/29/2014

TULSA, OK--Cardiac arrest survival rates have hit an all-time high in the Emergency Medical Service Authority (EMSA) service area of the Tulsa and Oklahoma City metropolitan areas, according to data released Monday by the Office of the Medical Director.

In the calendar year 2012, the area's EMS system--EMSA and its 16 partnering first responder agencies combined--achieved a survival rate of 45.2 percent. Only the Seattle/King County, Wash., area has been reported as having a higher survival rate.

"For emphasis, these results are not 'pretty good,' they are outstanding," said Jeffrey M. Goodloe, MD, NREMT-P, FACEP, medical director for the medical control board which oversees medical care for the EMS system.

"Among EMS systems approximating our size in terms of patients served, survival like this is virtually unheard of."

The survival rate is equivalent to roughly six-times the national average of cardiac survival which is around 7 percent.

These results are based on patients who had a witnessed collapse, received some form of bystander CPR and were found in a shockable rhythm on first EMS contact.  The increase is a result of joint cardiac arrest training among agencies and new technology, among other things, implemented over the previous three years.

The Oklahoma EMSA coverage area is being looked at as a model among EMS systems nationwide.  The data is being collected and analyzed by the Oklahoma Medical Director’s Office with the goal of reaching a 50 percent-plus survival rate.

SOURCE: Tulsa OK EMSA

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