Establishing the Korean Out-of-Hospital cardiac arrest registry (KOHCAR)

Jeong Ho Park; Yeongho Choi; Young Sun Ro; Kyoung Jun Song; Sang Do Shin

doi:10.1016/j.resplu.2023.100529

Establishing the Korean Out-of-Hospital cardiac arrest registry (KOHCAR)

Resusc Plus. 2023 Dec 13:17:100529. doi: 10.1016/j.resplu.2023.100529. eCollection 2024 Mar.

Authors

Jeong Ho Park^{1

2

3}, Yeongho Choi^{2

3

4}, Young Sun Ro^{1

2

3}, Kyoung Jun Song^{2

3

5}, Sang Do Shin^{1

2

3}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Emergency Medicine, Seoul National University College of Medicine and Seoul National University Hospital, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
² Laboratory of Emergency Medical Services, Seoul National University Hospital Biomedical Research Institute, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
³ Disaster Medicine Research Center, Seoul National University Medical Research Center, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
⁴ Department of Emergency Medicine, Seoul National University College of Medicine and Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, Seongnam, Gyeonggi, Republic of Korea.
⁵ Department of Emergency Medicine, Seoul National University College of Medicine and Seoul National University Boramae Medical Center, Seoul, Republic of Korea.

Abstract

Background: The Korean out-of-hospital cardiac arrest registry (KOHCAR) serves as the basis for a chain of survival monitoring and quality improvement programs for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA). This study describes the development history and current status of KOHCAR.

Methods/design: The KOHCAR, initiated in 2008, is a population-based OHCA registry that captures all emergency medical service (EMS)-assessed OHCA cases, regardless of etiology. The KOHCAR represents complete nationwide data and aligns with South Korea's comprehensive plan for cardiovascular disease, which has a legal basis. The KOHCAR is a collaboration between the National Fire Agency (NFA) and the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). The NFA identifies OHCA patients and provides prehospital information after integrating various EMS records, whereas the KDCA collects hospital information and clinical outcomes through a medical record review. Comprehensive Utstein variables, including patient and arrest characteristics, prehospital and hospital management, and survival outcomes, were collected.

Discussion: The KOHCAR has significantly contributed to improving OHCA survival rates in South Korea; however, the COVID-19 pandemic has posed challenge. To address the post-pandemic survival rate decline, there is a need to enhance data utilization, expand data sources, and tailor communication with diverse stakeholders.

Keywords: Epidemiology; Out-of-hospital cardiac arrest; Outcome; Quality; Survival.

Publication types

Review