Faculty Collaboration Database

Survival of cardiac arrest patients on ski slopes: A 10-year analysis of the Northern French Alps Emergency Network. Resuscitation 2017 Oct;119:43-47

Date

08/23/2017

Pubmed ID

28827198

DOI

10.1016/j.resuscitation.2017.07.030

Scopus ID

2-s2.0-85028608923 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site)   10 Citations

Abstract

AIM: Intense physical activity, cold and altitude make mountain sports a cause of increased risk of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA). The difficulties of pre-hospital management related to this challenging environment could be mitigated by the presence of ski-patrollers in ski areas and use of helicopters for medical rescue. We assess whether this particular situation positively impacts the chain of survival compared to the general population.

METHODS: Analysis of prospectively collected data from the cardiac arrest registry of the Northern French Alps Emergency Network (RENAU) from 2004 to 2014.

RESULTS: 19,341 OHCAs were recorded during the period, including 136 on-slope events. Compared to other OHCAs, on-slope patients were younger (56 [40-65] vs. 66 [52-79] years, p<0.001) and more often in shockable initial rhythm (41.2% vs 20.1%, p<0.001). Resuscitation was more frequently started by a witness (43.4% vs 26.8%, p<0.001) and the time to the first electric shock was shorter (7.5min vs 14min, p<0.001), whereas time to the advanced life support (ALS) rescue arrival did not differ. The 30-day survival rate was higher for on-slope arrests (21.3% vs 5.9%, p<0.001, RR=3.61). In multivariate analysis, on-slope CA remained a positive 30-day survival factor with a 2.6 odds ratio (95% confidence interval, 1.42-4.81, p=0.002).

CONCLUSION: Despite difficult access and management conditions, patients undergoing OHCAs on ski slopes presented a higher survival rate, possibly explained by a healthier population, the efficiency of resuscitation by ski-patrols and similar time to ALS facilities compared to other cardiac arrests.

Author List

Viglino D, Maignan M, Michalon A, Turk J, Buse SK, Blancher M, Aufderheide TP, Belle L, Savary D, Ageron FX, Debaty G, Northern French Alps Emergency Network RENAU group

Author

Tom P. Aufderheide MD Professor in the Emergency Medicine department at Medical College of Wisconsin

MESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold

Adult
Aged
Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation
Case-Control Studies
Emergency Medical Services
Female
France
Humans
Male
Middle Aged
Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest
Prospective Studies
Registries
Skiing
Survival Rate
Time-to-Treatment
Treatment Outcome