TY  - JOUR
T1  - Estimating the Probability of Cardiac Arrest Based on How Callers Describe Breathing during Emergency Dispatches
A1  - Laura Meinhardt
A1  - Sophie Klein
JF  - Journal of Integrative Nursing and Palliative Care
JO  - J Integr Nurs Palliat Care
SN  - 3006-5550
Y1  - 2021
VL  - 2
IS  - 1
DO  - 10.51847/0l0QJJEpVN
SP  - 114
EP  - 121
N2  - During emergency calls, people reporting an incident describe a patient’s breathing—or the lack of it—in many different ways. Call-takers must interpret these varied descriptions and, for an unresponsive individual, decide whether the situation meets the dispatch criteria for a cardiac arrest. This study set out to organise the types of breathing descriptions offered by callers and to estimate how often those categories corresponded to a true cardiac arrest. We analysed audio recordings of calls and linked ambulance dispatch data from St John Western Australia for events between January and June 2021 in which the case was initially categorised as out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA). From these calls, we developed a structured classification of breathing-related terms and coded the presence of each descriptor. For every category, we calculated the percentage of cases confirmed by Emergency Medical Services (EMS) on arrival as being in cardiac arrest (true positives). Among 375 incidents dispatched as OHCA, EMS later verified arrest in 85.3% (n = 320). Callers used a broad spectrum of terms—23 categories in total—to describe breathing. Categories most strongly associated with EMS-confirmed cardiac arrest included Dead, NOT breathing, Blue/Purple, and Unsure. Other descriptors, such as Barely, Gasp, and Laboured, were less frequently linked with cardiac arrest but still exceeded a 50% true-positive rate. Individuals flagged as OHCA during emergency call-taking were described with a wide array of breathing-related expressions. Although the predictive accuracy varied among descriptor categories, all demonstrated reasonably high proportions of confirmed arrests. We suggest that call-takers receive training that familiarises them with the full breadth of caller terminology and supports them in addressing callers’ interpretations of residual signs of life.
UR  - https://journalinpc.com/article/estimating-the-probability-of-cardiac-arrest-based-on-how-callers-describe-breathing-during-emergenc-em8psv37xcjcrrw
ER  -