Views and perceptions of advanced life support practitioners on initiating, withholding and terminating resuscitation in out of hospital cardiac arrest in the emergency medical services of the Western Cape

Higgins, Sarah

Views and perceptions of advanced life support practitioners on initiating, withholding and terminating resuscitation in out of hospital cardiac arrest in the emergency medical services of the Western Cape

Thesis / Dissertation

2023

Abstract

Non-communicable disease as a cause of death is on the rise. Cardiovascular disease was the main non-communicable cause of death in South Africa and the Western Cape in 2018, comprising of 18.9% of all deaths in the country. (1) Cardiovascular disease remains the predominant cause of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA). (2) The overall prognosis and neurological outcome associated with OHCA are rather poor and have remained unchanged for the past thirty years. There is a survival rate of approximately 10% following discharge from hospital. (3, 4) This is from the United Kingdom and the United States, which are both high-income countries (HIC). Overall survival following OHCA in low-to-middle-income countries (LMIC) has been reported to be poor, but studies are limited. (5, 6) South Africa is an LMIC with a limited healthcare budget and resources and is thus likely to have a lower survival rate than other HICs.

Keywords

Emergency Medicine

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