• Chang Bae Park, Sang Do Shin, Gil Joon Suh, Ki Ok Ahn, Won Chul Cha, Kyoung Jun Song, Soo Jin Kim, Eui Jung Lee, and Marcus Eng Hock Ong.
• Department of Emergency Medicine, Seoul National University Hospital, Seoul, South Korea. ipanema2@medimail.co.kr
• Resuscitation. 2010 May 1;81(5):512-7.

Study ObjectivesOur objective was to describe the incidence and demographics of pediatric out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) in Korea.MethodsWe identified non-traumatic OHCA patients aged less than 20 years from a Korean nationwide OHCA registry (2006-2007). Data from emergency medical service (EMS) run-sheets and hospital records were reviewed. We excluded cases with unknown hospital outcomes. Patient characteristics, treatment by EMS, and outcomes were compared by age groups: infant (<1 year), children (1-11 years), and adolescents (12-19 years).ResultsA total of 971 patients including infants (n=299, 30.8%), children (n=305, 31.4%), and adolescents (n=367, 37.8%) met inclusion criteria. The incidence of pediatric OHCA was 4.2 per 100,000 person-years (67.1 in infants, 2.5 in children, and 3.5 in adolescents). The rate of cardiopulmonary resuscitation administered was 82.1% (infants 80.6%, children 82.0%, and adolescent 83.4%). The rate of applying automated external defibrillators and advanced airway management (endotracheal intubation or laryngeal mask airway), was only 4.1% and 2.5%, respectively. 7.4% showed ventricular fibrillation (VF) or pulseless ventricular tachycardia (VT) in the initial ECG. Survival to hospital discharge for all pediatric OHCA was 4.9% (2.9% for infants, 4.7% for children, and 7.2% of adolescents). For EMS-treated pediatric OHCA or patients with VF or pulseless VT, the rate was 5.0% and 31.6%, respectively.ConclusionIncidence and hospital outcomes in pediatric OHCA in Korea were comparable to other population-based nationwide reports.Copyright 2009 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

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