Dispatcher-assisted cardiopulmonary resuscitation: Differential effects of landline, Mobile, and transferred calls.

Abstract

Dispatcher-assisted cardiopulmonary resuscitation (DACPR) could improve the survival rate of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA). However, the efficiency of DACPR varies. Our study compared the effectiveness of DACPR instructed via landline calls, mobile calls, and landline calls transferred to mobiles. This prospective cohort study enrolled patients with OHCA between 1 July 2017 and 30 November 2018 in Taichung. Patients were divided into a mobile group and a landline group according to device used to call emergency medical services (EMS). The landline group was subdivided according to whether the call was transferred to a mobile. We compared the DACPR rate and call to chest compression time between groups. The study comprised 2404 cases after exclusion: 934 cases of DACPR via mobile and 1470 via landline. In the mobile group, DACPR rate (54% vs. 47.5%, P <  0.001) was higher and call to chest compression time (median: 156 s vs. 174 s P < 0.001) was shorter than in the landline group. In the transferred group, DACPR rate (72.7% vs. 28.8%, P <  0.001) was higher than in the non-transferred group, but no difference was observed in call to chest compression time (median: 173 s vs. 177 s, P = 0.69). According to this city-based prospective clinical study, communication over mobiles resulted in higher DACPR rate and shorter call to chest compression time than that over landlines. Transferring calls from a landline to a mobile could increase the DACPR rate without delaying the initiation of chest compression.