Partnership Commits to Doubling Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest Survival Rate by 2028

According to the American Heart Association (AHA), every year more than 350,000 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests occur across the nation.  Cardiac arrest is a life-threatening condition with about a 10-minute life expectancy without immediate CPR from a bystander, leading to hospitalization and death. With emergency medical service (EMS) providers, on average, arriving on scene in about seven minutes following a 9-11 call, the chances for survival significantly improves when Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) telecommunicators guide callers on how to perform CPR.

Last month, RQI Partners LLC, a joint venture partnership, the American Heart Association (AHA)  and Laerdal Medical, joins Priority Dispatch and the International Academies of Emergency Dispatch (IAED) announced their shared commitment to the goal of  doubling the out-of-hospital cardiac arrest survival by 2028 by implementing research-based protocols and a new resuscitation education and quality improvement initiative geared to delivering to high-quality telephone CPR.

Bringing Unique Resources to the Table

Each member of this unique partnership brings unique resources to the table. AHA, one of the  largest voluntary health organization, brings its expertise in resuscitation science and developing health care education courses, to the initiative. Laerdal’s expertise in technology implementation, Priority Dispatch’s top-tier technology, tools and training for emergency dispatch centers and the IAED, the world’s foremost standard-setting and certification institution for emergency communications, will help achieve the 2028 goal.

Research shows that continuous resuscitation training for telecommunicators can lead to a significant increase in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest survival rates and is essential to performing high-quality telephone CPR. In response, RQI-T, Resuscitation Quality Improvement® Telecommunicator has been developed by the AHA, Laerdal Medical and the  Resuscitation Academy Foundation to ensure delivery of high-quality telephone CPR. RQI-T is a blended educational and resuscitation quality improvement program that provides simulation-based mastery learning and education, which is implemented through telephone CPR sessions in 45 minutes every 90 days.

“We are pleased to work with Priority Dispatch and the International Academies of Emergency Dispatch, combining our respective knowledge, resources and expertise, to position telecommunicators to provide high-quality telephone CPR to bystanders,” said Clive Patrickson, RQI Partners’ chief executive officer, in an April 23 statement announcing the initiative.

“Together, we are setting a new standard in telecommunicator-assisted telephone CPR learning, and ultimately, helping to improve cardiac arrest survival rates, he said.

RQI Partners will deliver the RQI-T program to PSAPs, while IAED’s research-based protocols will help standardize telephone CPR instructions. The IAED supports first responder-related research and strengthens the emergency dispatch community through education, certification and accreditation.

Working to Improving Cardiac Survival Rates

“The CPR protocol in the Priority Dispatch System is designed specifically to provide the highest level of response as quickly as possible,” said Ron McDaniel, president of Priority Dispatch. “We see a natural synergy between the work being done by RQI Partners and our own work with tens of thousands of emergency telecommunicators. This collaboration—combining science-based protocols with focused dispatcher education, certification and training—can significantly increase the chances of success in improving survival rates,” he states.