• Mazen J El Sayed, Hani Tamim, Zeina Nasreddine, Maggy Dishjekenian, and Amin A Kazzi.
• Departments of aEmergency Medicine bInternal Medicine cEmergency Medical Services and Prehospital Care Program, American University of Beirut Medical Center, Beirut, Lebanon.
• Eur J Emerg Med. 2014 Aug 1;21(4):281-3.

BackgroundOut-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) is used to evaluate the performance of the emergency medical service (EMS) system. Our study examined the characteristics and outcomes of OHCA cases presenting to a tertiary care center in Beirut, Lebanon.MethodsA retrospective chart review of all adult OHCA patients admitted to the emergency department (ED) over a 3-year period was carried out. Data collection and analysis was performed using the Utstein guidelines.ResultsA total of 214 OHCA patients were presumed to have cardiac etiology; of them 205 (95.8%) underwent ED resuscitation. The mean age was 69±15.4 years. More than half of the patients (54.2%) were witnessed, but unfortunately the bystander cardiopulmonary resuscitation rate was low (4.2%). Most of them were transported by EMS (71.5%). An automatic external defibrillator was rarely used (0.9%). Asystole was the predominant presenting rhythm in ED (81.8%). Eleven patients (5.5%) survived to hospital discharge and five (45.4%) had good neurological outcome.ConclusionThe OHCA survival rate in Beirut, Lebanon, is low. Bystander cardiopulmonary resuscitation and early defibrillation should be prioritized to achieve better outcomes.

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