The American Heart Association, Laerdal Medical and the Resuscitation Academy Foundation introduce programs for pre-hospital and public safety responders to help increase out-of-hospital cardiac arrest survival

DALLAS, May 16, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- A suite of resuscitation quality improvement programs for pre-hospital and public safety responders is now available from RQI Partners LLC, the joint venture partnership between the American Heart Association and Laerdal Medical, to help improve cardiac arrest survival rates in communities nationwide. The programs are created by the American Heart Association, Laerdal Medical and the Resuscitation Academy Foundation --- three organizations that created the Resuscitation Academy Collaborative in 2016 to identify and provide best practices to reverse the public health crisis of dismal cardiac arrest outcomes.

According to the American Heart Association, the leading voluntary health organization devoted to a world of longer, healthier lives, more than 350,000 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests occur in the U.S. annually. About 90% of people who suffer out-of-hospital cardiac arrest die. Out-of-hospital cardiac arrest is a time-critical, life-threatening condition that requires peak, high-quality performance by pre-hospital and public safety responders. The four programs are designed to strengthen the chain of survival from individual and team responder education to evaluation of overall system effectiveness.

Built on the foundation of the Resuscitation Academy's expertise and success in increasing out-of-hospital cardiac arrest survival in Seattle and the proven Resuscitation Quality Improvement® (RQI®) methodology of verified CPR competency and mastery learning, which was co-developed by the American Heart Association and Laerdal Medical, the programs include:

• RQI Telecommunicator (RQI-T), a blended educational and resuscitation quality improvement program that provides continuous, simulation-based mastery learning, practice and analytics to telecommunicators for delivery of high-quality telephone CPR to bystanders.
• RQI EMS, a blended learning program for emergency medical service (EMS) providers that promotes mastery of high-quality CPR through short, frequent skills sessions.
• RQI EMS Team, a high-performance CPR quality improvement program developed for individuals who respond to medical emergencies as a team.
• Cardiac Arrest System Assessment, to engage EMS systems on how to improve survival rates from out-of-hospital cardiac arrest.

"Research shows that continuous resuscitation training can lead to a significant increase in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest survival rates," said Clive Patrickson, RQI Partners' chief executive officer. "We're pleased to work with the Resuscitation Academy in providing quality improvement solutions to pre-hospital and public safety responders and offering an EMS system assessment --- affording a comprehensive product portfolio to impact the chain of survival."

The statistics on out-of-hospital cardiac arrest occurrences and survival bring urgency to optimizing every link in the chain of survival:

• The median survival rate for cardiac arrest nationwide is 11% for all rhythms. CPR, especially if performed immediately, can double or triple a cardiac arrest victim's chance of survival.
• About 46% of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest victims get CPR from a bystander.
• For every minute that lifesaving measures such as CPR are delayed, a victim's chance of survival declines by 7 – 10%.
• Research shows that skills and the ability to recognize and manage a cardiac arrest event decay in one to six months, which may result in a delay, or failure, to initiate telephone CPR.

"For cardiac arrest, the time to CPR and the quality of CPR make a huge difference in the likelihood of survival," said Mickey Eisenberg, MD, chairman of the board of the Resuscitation Academy Foundation. "We know that quality performance matters because we have repeatedly seen communities improve survival rates after implementing these types of programs."  

For additional information and to learn more about these programs, visit the RQI Partners' website.

About RQI Partners LLC
RQI Partners LLC is a joint venture partnership between the American Heart Association and Laerdal Medical, positioning the organizations to deliver innovative solutions that accelerate the impact of their lifesaving mission. The company blends the Association's leadership in science with Laerdal's expertise in technology and implementation to deliver impactful and innovative resuscitation quality improvement programs. For more information, visit www.rqipartners.com and follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn.

About the Resuscitation Academy Foundation
The Resuscitation Academy's mission is to improve survival from cardiac arrest through a fellowship program designed specifically for EMS managers, EMS directors and EMS medical directors. The Seattle-based foundation has alumni in 32 states, and multiple countries, who participated in resuscitation leadership programs. The foundation serves as Secretariat for the Global Resuscitation Alliance, which includes senior-level leadership from EMS systems in more than 20 countries. Visit our website resuscitationacademy.org.

About the American Heart Association
The American Heart Association is a leading force for a world of longer, healthier lives. With nearly a century of lifesaving work, the Dallas-based association is dedicated to ensuring equitable health for all. We are a trustworthy source empowering people to improve their heart health, brain health and well-being. We collaborate with numerous organizations and millions of volunteers to fund innovative research, advocate for stronger public health policies and share lifesaving resources and information. Connect with us on heart.org, Facebook, Twitter or by calling 1-800-AHA-USA1.

About Laerdal Medical 
Laerdal Medical, one of the world's leading providers of healthcare solutions, is dedicated to helping save lives with products and services for Simulation, Airway Management, Immobilization, Basic Life Support, Advanced Life Support, Patient Care, Self-Directed Learning and Medical Education. Laerdal is pleased to serve all healthcare providers and educators, from the lay rescuer to medical professionals. Laerdal operates sales and support offices in 23 countries worldwide, and with the head office located in Stavanger, Norway. For more information, visit www.laerdal.com or call 877-523-7325.

SOURCE RQI Partners, LLC

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