The BC Extracorporeal Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation Trial for Refractory Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest
The addition of an Extracorporeal-Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (ECPR) service to a region may improve the survival of young patients with sudden unexpected cardiac arrest.The primary aim of this study is to determine the benefit of the systematic integration of ECPR services into the out-of-hospital cardiac arrest management algorithm. The investigators will compare the outcomes of ECPR-eligible patients in the intervention region, in comparison to patients meeting the same criteria in a comparable setting.
• Intra-arrest treatment by an ALS paramedic
• Age ≥ 18 and ≤ 65 years
• Witnessed arrest
• Bystander CPR required if initial rhythm is pulseless electrical activity (added to the protocol June, 2018 and applied retrospectively)
• Cause of the arrest is presumed to be one of the following:
‣ No obvious non-cardiac cause is identified
⁃ Known overdose of one of the following drugs: beta-blocker, calcium channel blocker, tricyclic antidepressants or other psychiatric medications, or digoxin
⁃ Hypothermia (with T \< 32°C)
∙ (5) The patient remains pulseless after a minimum of 3 cycles of CPR (by any professional provider).