• Rachael T Fothergill, Lynne R Watson, Gurkamal K Virdi, Fionna P Moore, and Mark Whitbread.
• Clinical Audit and Research Unit, London Ambulance Service NHS Trust, 8-20 Pocock Street, London SE1 0BW, United Kingdom. Electronic address: rachael.fothergill@lond-amb.nhs.uk.
• Resuscitation. 2014 Jan 1; 85 (1): 96-8.

ObjectiveThis study reports survival outcomes for patients resuscitated from out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) subsequent to ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI), and who were conveyed directly by ambulance clinicians to a specialist Heart Attack Centre for expert cardiology assessment, angiography and possible percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI).MethodsThis is a retrospective descriptive review of data sourced from the London Ambulance Service's OHCA registry over a one-year period.ResultsWe observed excellent survival rates for our cohort of patients with 66% of patients surviving to be discharged from hospital, the majority of whom were still alive after one year. Those who survived tended to be younger, to have had a witnessed arrest in a public place with an initial cardiac rhythm of VF/VT, and to have been transported to the specialist centre more quickly than those who did not.ConclusionA system allowing ambulance clinicians to autonomously convey OHCA STEMI patients who achieve a return of spontaneous circulation directly to a Heart Attack Centre is highly effective and yields excellent survival outcomes.Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

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