National Expansion of Cardiac Arrest Registry to Enhance Survival (CARES) Addresses Disparities in Outcomes

A single public health surveillance system for Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest (OHCA) patients across all 50 states and the District of Columbia is an achievable goal in the next 5 years. This will be accomplished by expanding the CARES program’s footprint from the 30 current state participants to include all 50 states. Through the use of the CARES program, this presentation will discuss the national expansion of the program and demonstrate how a data-driven approach identifies disparities of care and provides an informed approach for combatting these disparities. The utilization of this data allows identification of opportunities to promote action and reduce death. This information will promote discussions for solutions to reduce disparities and strengthen the links in the chain of survival.

This presentation will outline the status of the CARES registry, including its unique public-private partnership funding model to allow for maximum growth – a footprint increase from 30 current state participants to 50 in 5 years, we will then have a nationwide universal program to evaluate OHCA. The presentation will take an in-depth look at the upcoming nationwide expansion of CARES and expanding national quality improvement efforts influenced by the recent CAROL Act legislation. The next-generation technology upgrade will include a redesign of the CARES platform application and infrastructure, select cost-efficient solutions for enhanced reports/dashboards, and re-work data management tools. It will also include initiatives for a statewide approach for education and quality improvement to enhance T-CPR and High Performance (HP)-CPR compliance nationally.

Additionally, the presentation will discuss the goal of decreasing disparities in outcomes with a focus on improving bystander CPR rates and AED use in communities with low utilization rates. Findings from published CARES studies suggest that resuscitation care may differ at the individual- and community- level, with racial and socioeconomic factors influencing the likelihood that an individual receives bystander intervention (CPR or AED application) leading to differences in survival of an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest.