Survival rates for sudden cardiac arrests have remained stagnant for years, hovering at about 12 per cent. This year, Victorian survival rates fell to just 6.1 per cent.
Research led by Ambulance Victoria has found paramedics are taking an extra two minutes to arrive at the scene under strict coronavirus protocols, including putting on full personal protective equipment such as face masks, gloves and gowns, blowing out emergency response times.Paul Jeffers
"We have seen fluctuations of 1, 2 or 3 per cent, but we are talking about a fluctuation of around 50 per cent," Ambulance Victoria’s executive director of clinical operations, Associate Professor Mick Stephenson, said.Sean Singh had no symptoms the night he suddenly collapsed in his home late last month.
Bystanders make a critical difference in helping cardiac arrest victims before emergency responders arrive, Professor Stephenson said, as do defibrillators which can increase survival by up to 70 per cent. As part of the study, researchers compared the survival rates of 380 out-of-hospital cardiac arrest patients between March and May this year, with more than 1200 patients from the Victorian Ambulance Cardiac Arrest Registry, during the same period for the past three years.
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