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Operations & systems
Independent EMS beats hospital-based model in Chinese OHCA
Emergency medical service organizational structure and prehospital outcomes after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest in China: Insights from the BASIC-OHCA
Resuscitation Plus · Added 9 August 2026
Retrospective analysis of 24,814 OHCA patients comparing independent EMS models with hospital-based models in China — the independent model had higher survived event rates (2.23% vs 1.40%) despite longer response times.
- Study type
- Registry
- Design
- Retrospective registry cohort comparing EMS organisational models
- Participants
- 24,814 OHCA patients across 10 EMS systems in China
- Main finding
- Survived event rate (ROSC sustained to ED handover) was 2.05% overall; independent EMS model 2.23% vs hospital-based 1.40% (P<0.05), despite longer response times in the independent model
- Caveat
- Retrospective Chinese data with very small absolute difference (0.83%); not generalisable to Australian EMS systems
- Bottom line
- Context only
Why it matters in Australia (Medium relevance). Organizational structure is relevant to Australian services, but China's EMS context differs significantly — still offers useful comparative data on system design and its impact on OHCA outcomes.
Learning goal
Understand how ambulance service organisational models influence outcomes from out-of-hospital cardiac arrest.
More
- Topic: Operations & systems
- Daily scan: 9 August 2026
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