Pandemic-Era Conditions Blamed for Spike in Cardiac Arrest Deaths

October 6, 2023

(MedPage Today) – Epidemiological records suggest that Seattle’s drop in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) survival during the pandemic could be largely explained by indirect factors such as treatment delays, not acute SARS-CoV-2 infections. While instances of EMS-treated OHCA tended to track closely with community SARS-CoV-2 levels and acute SARS-CoV-2 infection in 2020-2021, only approximately 5% of people with OHCA, whether treated or dead on arrival (DOA), actually had evidence of COVID-19, reported researchers led by Jennifer Liu, MPH, of Public Health-Seattle & King County in Washington. (Read More)