Small state, real complicated: Moving the needle on out-of-hospital cardiac arrest in Rhode Island

Friday, December 1, 2023

3:00 PM – 3:15 PM PST

Location: Sunset Rooms 1 - 3

Primary Presenter(s)

Nicholas Asselin, DO, MS (he/him/his)

EMS Fellowship Director, Assistant Professor, Clinician Educator
Department of Emergency Medicine, Alpert Medical School of Brown University
Providence, RI, United States

Disclosure(s): American Red Cross Scientific Advisory Council: Consultant/Advisory Board (Ongoing); Blue Matter Consulting, LLC: Employment (Ongoing)

Co-Presenter(s)

Joseph R. Lauro, MD, FACEP

Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine
Dpeartment of Emergency Medicine, Alpert Medical School
Cranston, Rhode Island, United States

Disclosure information not submitted.
CC

Catherine A. Cummings, MD

Clinical Professor of Emergency Medicine
Department of Emergency Medicine, Warrent Alpert Medical School of Brown University
Providence, Rhode Island, United States

Disclosure information not submitted.

Disclosure(s):

Nicholas Asselin, DO, MS: American Red Cross Scientific Advisory Council: Consultant/Advisory Board (Ongoing); Blue Matter Consulting, LLC: Employment (Ongoing)

Summary: Three bystanders and a telecommunicator partnered to save a stranger's life. Join a panel of inspirational advocates as they tell the story “behind the story” of improving cardiac arrest survival in Rhode Island, and what lessons you can take to your own system.

Synopsis: Early in 2018 a diverse group of advocates met for coffee in the cafeteria of the local academic medical center. Their task was to advance out-of-hospital cardiac arrest survival in Rhode Island. Four and a half years later a young man was jogging with his child in a stroller and collapsed in a park. What happened in between is a story of politics, money, collaboration and persistence that can inform others interested in championing improved care in their own system.

Learning Objectives:

Discover our story of the path to improving OHCA survival in a small state with a complex political and EMS system.
Discuss how we built our team, how we found our voice, and the lumps we took along the way.
Dissect when and how to engage proactively with the press to advance your cause.
Develop strategies for approaching implementation challenges in your system.
This presentation will discuss how to implement three (3) elements of a comprehensive dispatch CPR and/or rapid dispatch program.
This presentation will include strategies for implementing data collection and quality improvement programs in an ECC system to support accountability and reporting.
This presentation will describe one or more survivor / rescuer stories that can be used to illustrate an effective chain of survival for cardiac arrest.