Abstract
ABSTRACT
Objective
This study sought to characterise the demographics, arrest characteristics, clinical outcomes and ED access variables for out‐of‐hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) presentations to the Victorian Heart Hospital (VHH), Australia's first dedicated cardiac hospital.
Methods
A retrospective audit of OHCA presentations to the VHH Cardiac Emergency Department from June 2024 to June 2025 was undertaken. Survival to hospital discharge was the primary outcome. Categorical variables associated with survival were assessed using Fisher's exact test with odds ratios; continuous variables associated with survival were assessed by Mann–Whitney U test.
Results
One hundred and twenty‐one patients were included; 70.2% male, median age 66 years (IQR 59–75). Shockable rhythms accounted for 61.2% of presentations and prehospital ROSC was documented in 92.6%. The primary outcome of survival to hospital discharge was 50.4% and 30‐day survival was 40.0%. Shockable rhythm (OR 3.46, 95% CI 1.55–7.73), cardiac aetiology (OR 3.40, 95% CI 1.32–8.74) and prehospital ROSC (OR 9.23, 95% CI 1.12–76.3) were significant categorical variables associated with survival. Interhospital transfer was required in 24.0% of patients primarily due to a noncardiac aetiology of arrest requiring continuity of care at an affiliated centre.
Conclusions
In this selected postresuscitation OHCA cohort, survival to hospital discharge was 50.4%, with high rates of prehospital ROSC, shockable rhythm and witnessed arrest. These findings should not be interpreted as evidence of superiority over population‐based OHCA cohorts. ED access variables, including a 24.0% interhospital transfer rate, represent novel system‐level findings warranting prospective investigation.