Aims: To review the rate of survival to hospital discharge of victims of out of hospital cardiac arrest in Christchurch 1992-3.
Methods: A written record was completed for all adult victims of cardiac arrest attended by the Canterbury Regional Ambulance Service for 1992-3.
Results: Seventy percent of the arrest rhythms were ventricular fibrillation or pulseless ventricular tachycardia. Eleven percent of the study population survived to hospital discharge. Sixteen percent of the patients presenting with a ventricular tachyarrhythmia survived to hospital discharge.
Conclusions: Rates of survival to hospital discharge for out of hospital cardiac arrest in Christchurch compare favourably with published averages but are below rates considered the best achievable. Gains might be attained by improving rates of immediate call of emergency medical services and bystander cardiopulmonary resuscitation and by reducing time to defibrillation.