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The need for improving access to emergency care through community involvement in low‐ and middle‐income countries: A case study of cardiac arrest in Hanoi, Vietnam
Author(s) -
Hoang Bui Hai,
Dao Xuan Dung,
Nakahara Shinji,
Sakamoto Tetsuya
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
emergency medicine australasia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.602
H-Index - 52
eISSN - 1742-6723
pISSN - 1742-6731
DOI - 10.1111/1742-6723.13134
Subject(s) - medicine , middle income country , medical emergency , low and middle income countries , emergency medicine , low income , environmental health , developing country , socioeconomics , economic growth , sociology , economics
Out‐of‐hospital cardiac arrest patients require immediate interventions by bystanders and emergency medical services (EMS). However, in many low‐ and middle‐income countries (LMIC), bystanders witnessing a cardiac arrest rarely perform chest compressions and contact EMS. This paper attempts to draw lessons from a case of a patient with a cardiac arrest who could have survived with immediate interventions. A 40 year old man collapsed following electrocution at a construction site. His colleagues immediately transferred him to hospital via taxi, without performing chest compressions. At the hospital he showed ventricular fibrillation; resuscitation attempts failed and he died. Ventricular fibrillation due to electrocution is a benign type of cardiac arrest. The chance of survival increases with immediate chest compressions and prompt defibrillation. We discuss the reasons why the bystanders did not perform resuscitation or contact EMS and identify approaches for the improvement of pre‐hospital care in LMICs.