Drs. Felipe Teran and Ben Abella discuss an important recent publication in Annals of Emergency Medicine by Elmer et al, in which some of the strongest evidence to date are presented that support the concept of “cardiac arrest centers”, much like trauma or stroke centers. This has been proposed before (Nichol G et al, Circulation 2010 – see below) – but evidence is now accumulating in support of the idea.

Key readings:

1. Nichol G et al, “Regional systems of care for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest: A policy statement from the American Heart Association.”, Circulation 2010;121:709-29. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20075331
2. Elmer J et al, “Long-Term Outcomes of Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest Care at Regionalized Centers.”, Ann Emerg Med 2019; 73:29-39. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30060961