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Atlanta partnership seen as best practice model for EMS response

| 08.23.2007 | 09:03:597025 |
August 23 '07: USA Today reported recently that a partnership between the City of Atlanta, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and Emory University called the Cardiac Arrest Registry to Enhance Survival program, uses an Internet-based database approach to combine several formats and medical records data to help create EMS performance reports and has improved survival rates for heart attack victims.
The model is now being adopted by more than a half-dozen other cities in the U.S. "In 2003, USA Today found disparities in emergency medical care across the nation, an said cities that carefully track their EMS performance save many more lives," the national paper reported. "In most cases, such cities also make a point of teaching residents CPR by, among other things, sending firefighters into homes, churches or businesses to train people."

The CARES system in Atlanta was developed using $1.5 million, five-year grant from the CDC. "Using the system's database, city leaders can track how many cardiac arrest victims their crews tried to save, how many of the victims had their hearts restarted in the field, and how many went home from the hospital with good brain function."

"The leaders also can see how many victims got help before rescuers arrive. By seeing how each part of the system performed, EMS leaders say they can determine what improvements are needed," USA Today reported.