Introduction: For many years, one of the biggest challenges of public healthcare system, in the European Union are cardiovascular diseases.
Purpose: The purpose of this study was to analyze the variables influencing the specific aspects of the chain of survival in a large city.
Methods: Patients included in this study had to fulfill all of the following criteria: (1) patient had to experience an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA), (2) emergency medical team had to initiate cardio-pulmonary resuscitation (CPR) at the site of the event. Data were collected from the 1st of January to the 31st of December 2004.
Result: In a time period from the 1st of January to the 31st of December 2004 emergency medical teams initiated 381 resuscitations. The incidence of OHCA in which CRP was initiated was 50 events / 100 000 habitants. Spontaneous circulation was achieved in 163 patients (42.8%). Thirty-day after the resuscitation 62 patients (16.3%) were alive, and 52 patients (13.6%) were discharged alive from the hospital.
Conclusions: Analysis of collected data shows that return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC) was achieved in 42.8% of patients, 16.3% survived at least 30 days following the event, and 13.6% of patients were discharged alive from the hospital. These results are similar to findings from different studies conducted in Poland.
Keywords: Utstein protocol; dcardiopulmonary resuscitation; return of spontaneous circulation.