Emergency Medical System response to out-of-hospital cardiac arrest in Milan, Italy.

The objective of this study was to investigate how rapidlythe Emergency Medical System provides life supportto patients suffering out-of-hospital cardiac arrest in Milan,Italy. The study population included 1426 consecutiveparticipants with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest betweenJanuary 2007 and October 2008. The mean age was 72.7years. The incidence of ventricular tachycardia/ventricularfibrillation as the presenting rhythm was 12.7%. Eightypercent of out-of-hospital cardiac arrests occurred at homeand bystander cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) wasin progress in 11.1% of all cases. The mean time intervalfrom collapse-to-first shock was 18.67±5.37min. Themean Emergency Medical System unit response timeinterval was 7.07±3.14min; time elapsed from arrival-to-first CPR was 7.75±4.32min. In conclusions, the dispatchto arrival and dispatch to CPR intervals are comparablewith those reported in other large urban areas, but the timefrom arrival-to-first CPR was longer than recommendedby current guidelines. European Journal of EmergencyMedicine 17:234–236