Abstract
Background:Although schools are key places that conduct cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and public-access defibrillation (PAD) programs, out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) in educational institutions is poorly understood. This study describes the characteristics and outcomes of such OHCAs.
Methods and Results:Data for OHCAs of any cause occurring in educational institutions between 2013 and 2015 were extracted from the All-Japan Utstein Registry. Patient characteristics and outcomes were documented. Subjects were divided into 6 age groups (0–1, 2–5, 6–11, 12–14, 15–17, and ≥18 years). Among the 783 eligible OHCA patients, most received bystander CPR regardless of age, ranging from 73.9% in those aged ≥18 years to 90.0% in those aged 2–5 years. However, the proportion receiving PAD differed by age group, ranging from 2.9% in those aged 0–1 years to 66.7% in those aged 12–14 years. The proportion of patients with 1-month survival with favorable neurological outcome differed significantly by age group, being extremely low among patients aged 0–1 years (zero for OHCA of cardiac origin), but high among patients aged 6–11, 12–14, and 15–17 years (69.2%, 77.5%, and 70.0%, respectively) for OHCA of cardiac origin.
Conclusions:The outcomes of OHCA occurring in educational institutions, where PAD is available, differed significantly by age.
