While other international studies have observed higher incidence and reduced survival in non-EMS-witnessed out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) during the COVID-19 pandemic, this study did not identify any significant impacts on EMS-witnessed OHCA.

This may suggest that changes in clinical practice that sought to limit the use of aerosol generating procedures did not influence incidence and outcomes in these patients.

We included 5,034 patients, 3,976 (79.0%) in the comparator period and 1,058 (21.0%) in the COVID-19 period.

Patients in the COVID-19 period had longer EMS response times, fewer public location arrests and were significantly more likely to receive mechanical CPR and laryngeal mask airways compared to the historical period (all p<0.05).

Read More