Improving outcome in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest: impact of bystander cardiopulmonary resuscitation and prehospital physician care

Evidence for the impact of prehospital, physician-delivered advanced cardiac life support (ACLS) on survival from out-of-hospital cardiac arrest is conflicting. The prospective observational study by Yasunaga and co-workers demonstrates an improved survival at 1 month associated with prehospital physician-delivered ACLS over emergency life-saving technician-delivered ACLS. These effects are additive to the survival benefit seen with bystander-initiated cardiopulmonary resuscitation (BCPR) compared with no BCPR. The present commentary places these findings in the context of the existing literature and discusses some of the unresolved controversies.