The National Danish Cardiac Arrest Registry for Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest - A Registry in Transformation

Aim of the Database: The aim of the Danish Cardiac Arrest Registry is to monitor the quality of prehospital cardiac arrest treatment, evaluate initiatives regarding prehospital treatment of cardiac arrest, and facilitate research.

Study Population: All patients with prehospital cardiac arrest in Denmark treated by the emergency medical services in whom resuscitation or defibrillation has been attempted.

Main Variables: The Danish Cardiac Arrest Register records descriptive and qualitative variables as outlined in the "Utstein" template for reporting out-of-hospital-cardiac arrest. Main variables include whether the case was witnessed, whether the cardiac arrest was electrocardiographically monitored, the timing of cardiopulmonary resuscitation, and the timing of the first analysis of the cardiac rhythm. The outcome measures are the status of the patient at handover to the hospital, return of spontaneous circulation, and 30-day survival after event.

Database Status: The Danish Cardiac Arrest Registry was established in June 2001, and all Danish emergency medical services are reporting to the database.

Conclusion: The Danish Cardiac Arrest Registry is among the oldest Danish national clinical registries, with a high quality of clinical data and coverage. This registry provides the prerequisite for all research on out-of-hospital cardiac arrest research in Denmark and is essential for monitoring and improving the quality of care for patients suffering from out-of-hospital cardiac arrest.