Table 1.
Characteristics of included public cardiac arrests.
| Characteristic* | All included Toronto cardiac arrests occurring in a public location (n=2654) | All included Downtown Toronto cardiac arrests occurring in a public location (n=506) |
|---|---|---|
| Average age ±SD | 59.4±17.7 | 55.2±18.1 |
| Male sex, n (%) | 2136 (80.5) | 420 (83.0) |
| Witnessed by bystander, n (%) | 1228 (46.3) | 226 (44.7) |
| Received bystander CPR, n (%) | 1153 (43.4) | 213 (42.1) |
| Bystander applied AED, n (%) | 254 (9.6) | 72 (14.2) |
| Ambulance response interval, median (IQR), minutes | 5:55 (4:45 – 7:24) | 5:11 (4:10 – 6:16) |
| Initial cardiac rhythm, n (%) | ||
| Shockable† | 917 (34.6) | 167 (33.0) |
| Not Shockable† | 1661 (62.6) | 322 (63.6) |
| Survival to discharge, n (%) | 416 (15.8) | 88 (17.4) |
SD, standard deviation; AED, automated external defibrillator; CPR, cardiopulmonary resuscitation; and IQR, interquartile range
Number missing from total: age (76), sex (14), witnessed by bystander (15), received bystander CPR (2), bystander applied AED (46), arrival interval (54), initial cardiac rhythm (76), survival (28)
Number missing from downtown: age (1), sex (1), witnessed by bystander (4), received bystander CPR (1), bystander applied AED (11), arrival interval (12), initial cardiac rhythm (17), survival (0)
Shockable includes, ventricular fibrillation, ventricular tachycardia and patients listed as shockable. Not shockable includes asystole, pulseless electrical activity, patients listed as not shockable, and patients whose initial rhythm was not obtained as resuscitation was stopped before rhythm analysis by protocol due to obvious signs of death.