Community Response to Cardiac Arrest in the Netherlands

In 1767, the Foundation of the Rescue of Drowned Persons was established in the Netherlands because of the high number of people who drowned in Amsterdam’s many canals. The foundation promoted rescue techniques, informing Amsterdam’s citizens that drowned persons could actually be saved by first-aid interventions. They also gave medals to rescuers. The foundation exists and is still active today, and it illustrates the proactive Dutch attitude toward community participation to save lives. Like drowning, the first few minutes of an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) are essential. This is especially true when the arrest is witnessed, caused by a shockable rhythm, and immediately recognized. BLS measures, including the use of an AED, must be implemented quickly. This poses a great challenge in prehospital care, because most bystanders haven’t been trained to recognize and respond to cardiac arrests. It often takes approximately 10 minutes before the emergency dispatcher recognizes the arrest and an ambulance with trained responders can arrive to defibrillate the heart. These barriers of survival should be overcome to improve OHCA survival. Today, the Netherlands has a nationwide response system that alerts trained citizens when they’re near someone who’s experiencing an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA). The main elements of this system are available trained citizens, available AEDs and a system to alert them that’s used by the dispatch center. This system ha...
Source: JEMS Administration and Leadership - Category: Emergency Medicine Authors: Tags: Cardiac & Resuscitation Exclusive Articles Heart of America Top Story International Communications Dispatch Source Type: news