Outcomes after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest treated by basic vs advanced life support.

ABSTRACT:

Importance

Most out-of-hospital cardiac arrests receiving emergency medical services in the United States are treated by ambulance service providers trained in advanced life support (ALS), but supporting evidence for the use of ALS over basic life support (BLS) is limited.

Objective

To compare the effects of BLS and ALS on outcomes after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest.

Design, setting, and participants

Observational cohort study of a nationally representative sample of traditional Medicare beneficiaries from nonrural counties who experienced out-of-hospital cardiac arrest between January 1, 2009, and October 2, 2011, and for whom ALS or BLS ambulance services were billed to Medicare (31,292 ALS cases and 1643 BLS cases). Propensity score methods were used to compare t

SUBMITTER: Sanghavi P 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4314335 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature