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Airway & ventilation
Intubation linked to more ROSC in OHCA registry
Prehospital endotracheal intubation and return of spontaneous circulation in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest patients: a retrospective cohort study based on prehospital emergency registry data
BMC Emergency Medicine · 2026-08-11 · Added 10 November 2026
A Chinese regional EMS registry cohort of 6,162 adult non-traumatic out-of-hospital cardiac arrest patients found prehospital endotracheal intubation associated with more prehospital ROSC than basic airways (21.1% vs 3.8%, propensity-matched OR 6.33).
- Study type
- Cohort
- Design
- Retrospective registry cohort with propensity-score matching
- Participants
- 6,162 adults with non-traumatic OHCA (1,448 intubated vs 4,714 basic airway)
- Main finding
- ROSC 21.1% with intubation vs 3.8% with basic airway (multivariable OR 7.61, propensity-matched OR 6.33); the unadjusted association was not significant in the shockable-rhythm stratum
- Caveat
- Airway strategy was chosen by on-scene physicians, so sicker or different patients were selected for intubation, and the registry had no long-term survival or neurological data
- Bottom line
- Hypothesis-generating
Why it matters in Australia (Medium relevance). A physician-staffed Chinese system where on-scene doctors chose the airway; intubation is an intensive care paramedic skill in most Australian services, and the association almost certainly reflects who was selected for a tube.
Learning goal
Weigh advanced airway management against basic airway techniques when managing cardiac arrest in the Australian prehospital setting.
More
- Topic: Airway & ventilation
- Daily scan: 10 November 2026
- Podcast: Paramedic Papers Daily, 10 November 2026
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