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Cardiac arrest
What OHCA care is worth paying for
The cost-effectiveness and health equity of prehospital treatment strategies for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest patients: a systematic review
Prehospital Emergency Care · 2026-09-29 · Added 3 October 2026
Systematic review of 10 economic evaluations of prehospital OHCA care found early defibrillation and EMT-delivered ALS, prehospital ECPR, and termination-of-resuscitation rules are all cost-effective, while health-equity reporting across the studies was poor.
- Study type
- Systematic review
- Design
- Systematic review of economic evaluations
- Participants
- 10 economic evaluations
- Main finding
- Early defibrillation and EMT-delivered ALS cost-effective (ICERs £11,407–US$56,700 per QALY); prehospital ECPR more cost-effective than in-hospital ECPR (AU$27,323–44,000 per QALY); termination-of-resuscitation strategies cost-effective (US$110,554 saved per QALY lost in one estimate)
- Caveat
- Pooled evidence spans different health systems and funding models, and most studies rarely reported equity-relevant data
- Bottom line
- Context only
Why it matters in Australia (High relevance). Speaks directly to Australian OHCA system decisions — defibrillator coverage, ECPR pathways and termination rules all carry cost and equity weight here.
Learning goal
Recognise how cost-effectiveness and health equity shape resource allocation decisions in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest care.
More
- Topic: Cardiac arrest
- Daily scan: 3 October 2026
- Podcast: Paramedic Papers Daily, 3 October 2026
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