Table 1.

Performance goals and recommendations from Resuscitation Academy and the American Heart Association programme for training of emergency medical dispatchers.

Performance goals

- Time between emergency call and OHCA recognition < 120 s

- Time between emergency call and delivery of T-CPR < 180 s

Train and provide continuing education in telephone-assisted cardiopulmonary resuscitation (T-CPR) for all dispatchers.

- Initial training for 100% of call takers and dispatchers requiring an estimated 3–4 h.

- On-going continuing education requiring 2–3 h annually.

On-going quality improvement for all calls in which a cardiac arrest is confirmed by the Emergency Medical Dispatch Centre personnel in which resuscitation is attempted to improve positive outcomes and quality of T-CPR.

- 100% of calls in which resuscitation is attempted must have the dispatch call audited for quality improvement purposes.

- The quality improvement must collect key time intervals and reasons for non-recognition of cardiac arrest and reasons for delays.

- Individual quality improvement review of every cardiac arrest call provided by the supervisor or designated quality improvement person) including helpful feedback.

- Quality improvement reports must be summarised annually and secular trends reported.

- Quality improvement reports should be used to identify training needs.