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Cardiac arrest

Dispatcher CPR barriers delay bystander CPR, cut survival

Barriers to dispatcher-assisted CPR are associated with delayed bystander CPR and worse outcomes in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest: a retrospective cohort study
Resuscitation · Added 24 September 2026

Retrospective cohort of 3,263 transcribed Swedish 112 calls linked to the national cardiac arrest registry quantified barriers to dispatcher-assisted CPR after the dispatcher recognised arrest — 43.7% of calls hit at least one barrier (commonest: inability to move the patient), bystander CPR reached 85% in barrier-free calls but stayed below 50% with three or more, and any barrier was associated with lower ROSC (adjusted RR 0.89) and 30-day survival (adjusted RR 0.57).

Study type

Cohort

Design

Retrospective cohort linking 112 call transcripts to national registry

Participants

3,263 adults with OHCA in Sweden

Main finding

43.7% of calls had ≥1 barrier to dispatcher-assisted CPR (commonest: inability to move the patient, 55.8% of barrier-present calls). Bystander CPR reached 85% in barrier-free calls vs <50% with ≥3 barriers. Any barrier was associated with lower ROSC (adjusted RR 0.89, 95% CrI 0.81–0.98) and 30-day survival (adjusted RR 0.57, 95% CrI 0.46–0.71).

Caveat

Retrospective single-country (Swedish) data; residual confounding likely as barriers reflect caller/patient factors

Bottom line

Context only

Learning goal

Recognise the caller and system barriers that delay bystander CPR and worsen outcomes in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest.

More

• Topic: Cardiac arrest
• Daily scan: 24 September 2026

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