References

Security officers as first responders: One med center's experience. Hospital Security and Safety Management. 2001; 22:1-3

Australian Resuscitation Council. 2010. http//tinyurl.com/76s3w8s (accessed 29 November 2011)

Bernard S Outcome from prehospital cardiac arrest in melbourne, australia. Emergency Medicine. 1998; 10:25-9

Boyle MJ, Williams B, Bibby C The first 7 years of the metropolitan fire brigade emergency responder programme - an overview of incidents attended. Open Access Emergency Medicine. 2010; 2:77-82

Chan T, Braitberg G, Elbaum D Hatzolah emergency medical responder service: to save a life. Medical Journal of Australia. 2007; 186:(12)639-42

Cummins RO, Ornato JP, Thies WH Improving survival from sudden cardiac arrest: The ‘chain of survival’ concept. A statement for health professionals from the advanced cardiac life support subcommittee and the emergency cardiac care committee, american heart association. Circulation. 1991; 83:1832-47

Hawkins SC, Shapiro AH, Sever AE The role of law enforcement agencies in out-of-hospital emergency care. Resuscitation. 2007; 72:386-93

Kooij FO, Van Alem AP, Koster RW Training of police officers as first responders with an automated external defibrillator. Resuscitation. 2004; 63:33-41

Mosesso VN, Davis EA, Auble TE Use of automated external defibrillators by police officers for treatment of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. Ann Emerg Med. 1998; 32:(2)200-7

Nolan JP, Soar J, Zideman DA European resuscitation council guidelines for resuscitation 2010 section 1. Executive summary. Resuscitation. 2010; 81:1219-76

2010. http//tinyurl.com/czmk5pa (accessed 30 November 2011)

O'Rourke MF, Donaldson E, Geddes JS An airline cardiac arrest programme. 1997; 96:(9)2849-53

Ross P, Nolan J, Hill E The use of aeds by police officers in the city of london. Automated external defibrillators. Resuscitation. 2001; 50:(2)141-6

Sayre MR, Evans J, White LJ Providing automated external defibrillators to urban police officers in addition to a fire department rapid defibrillation programme is not effective. Resuscitation. 2005; 66:(2)189-96

Shuster M, Keller JL Effect of fire department first-responder automated defibrillation. Ann Emerg Med. 1993; 22:(4)721-7

Smith KL, Peeters A, Mcneil JJ Results from the first 12 months of a fire first-responder programme in Australia. Resuscitation. 2001; 49:(2)143-50

Smith KL, Mcneil JJ Cardiac arrests treated by ambulance paramedics and fire fighters. Med J Australia. 2002; 177:(6)305-9

Somers GT, Drinkwater EJ, Torcello N The GP as first responder in a major medical emergency. Australian family physician. 1997; 26:(12)1406-9

Spaite DW, Hanlon T, Criss EA Prehospital cardiac arrest: The impact of witnessed collapse and bystander cpr in a metropolitan ems system with short response times. Ann Emerg Med. 1990; 19:1264-9

Valenzuela TD, Kern KB, Clark LL Interruptions of chest compressions during emergency medical systems resuscitation. Circulation. 2005; 112:(9)1259-65

Valenzuela TD, Roe DJ, Nichol G Outcomes of rapid defibrillation by security officers after cardiac arrest in casinos. New England Journal of Medicine. 2000; 343:1206-9

Wassertheil J, Keane G, Fisher N Cardiac arrest outcomes at the melbourne cricket ground and shrine of remembrance using a tiered response strategy-a forerunner to public access defibrillation. Resuscitation. 2000; 44:(2)97-104

Weaver WD, Copass MK, Hill DL Cardiac arrest treated with a new automatic external defibrillator by out-of-hospital first responders. American Journal of Cardiology. 1986; 57:1017-21

1996. http//tinyurl.com/848fet2 (accessed 29 November 2011)

Winkle RA The effectiveness and cost effectiveness of public-access defibrillation. Clinical Cardiology. 2010; 33:(7)396-9

Australian first responder programmes: a review of the literature

12 January 2012
Other
02 January 2012
Volume 4 · Issue 1

Abstract

Early access to defibrillation for cardiac arrest patients is highlighted in the seminal paper describing the ‘chain of survival’ concept. The objective of the study was to identify Australian first responder programmes and report their effect on survival rate from out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA). Methods: a literature search was conducted using medical electronic databases Medline and EMBASE, with the databases searched from their beginning until the end of May 2011. References from retrieved articles were reviewed. Articles were included if they reported on Australian first responder programmes and their outcomes, including survival to discharge from hospital. Articles were excluded if they were not written in English or were hospital-based. Results: there were 674 articles located by the search with seven articles meeting the inclusion criteria. Two articles were subsequently excluded, as they did not report survival outcomes. The survival rates from cardiac arrest ranged from 4% with the Metropolitan Fire and Emergency Services Board first responder programme to 71% with St John Ambulance Australia at large public events. Conclusion: the results of this study suggest the survival from OHCA attended by first responders in Australia is, in some studies, comparable with international studies.

The use of first responders to attend urgent medical incidents, including cardiac arrest, commenced in the mid-1980s in the US (Weaver et al, 1986) and in the late 1980s in Canada (Shuster and Keller, 1993). Firefighters, and other emergency personnel, were used as first responders to decrease the time from collapse to defibrillation (Weaver et al, 1986; Mosesso et al, 1998; Shuster and Keller, 1993), which is associated with an improvement in patient outcomes.

In Australia, the Australian Resuscitation Council defines a first responder as:

‘A person competent in advanced first aid (including oxygen administration and the use of an automated external defibrillator). A first responder may be a salaried/non-salaried member of a fire/police/ambulance service, a community based organization, or any other organization having in place the necessary systems’

Subscribe to get full access to the Journal of Paramedic Practice

Thank you for visiting the Journal of Paramedic Practice and reading our archive of expert clinical content. If you would like to read more from the only journal dedicated to those working in emergency care, you can start your subscription today for just £48.

What's included

  • CPD Focus

  • Develop your career

  • Stay informed

Register
Or continue by

Signing in with your registered email address

Defibrillation
Emergency Medical Systems
First Responder
Heart Arrest