Resuscitation science, technology and emergency dispatch services leaders commit to help double out-of-hospital cardiac arrest survival by 2028

Resuscitation quality improvement program, protocols for telecommunicators core components to improve survival rates

DALLAS, April 23, 2019—The American Heart Association states more than 350,000 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests occur in the U.S. annually. Cardiac arrest is a life-threatening condition with about a 10-minute life expectancy without immediate CPR from a bystander. With emergency medical service (EMS) providers, on average, arriving on scene in seven minutes following a 9-1-1 call, the chance of survival significantly improves when Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) telecommunicators guide callers on how to perform CPR.

Today, RQI Partners LLC, a joint venture partnership between the American Heart Association and Laerdal Medical, joins Priority Dispatch and the International Academies of Emergency Dispatch (IAED) in announcing their shared commitment and mission to help double out-of-hospital cardiac arrest survival by 2028 by implementing research-based protocols and a new resuscitation education and quality improvement program to deliver high-quality telephone CPR.

The organizations are leveraging the American Heart Association, the leading voluntary health organization devoted to a world of longer, healthier lives, and its leadership in resuscitation science and education, Laerdal’s expertise in technology implementation, Priority Dispatch’s top-tier technology, tools and training for emergency dispatch centers and the IAED, the world’s foremost standard-setting and certification institution for emergency communications, to help achieve the 2028 goal.

Research shows that continuous resuscitation training for telecommunicators can lead to a significant increase in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest survival rates and is essential to performing high-quality telephone CPR. In response, RQI-T, Resuscitation Quality Improvement^® Telecommunicator has been developed by the American Heart Association, Laerdal Medical and the Resuscitation Academy Foundation to ensure delivery of high-quality telephone CPR. RQI-T is a blended educational and resuscitation quality improvement program that provides simulation-based mastery learning and education, which is implemented through telephone CPR sessions in 45 minutes every 90 days.

“We are pleased to work with Priority Dispatch and the International Academies of Emergency Dispatch, combining our respective knowledge, resources and expertise, to position telecommunicators to provide high-quality telephone CPR to bystanders,” said Clive Patrickson, RQI Partners’ chief executive officer. “Together, we are setting a new standard in telecommunicator-assisted telephone CPR learning, and ultimately, helping to improve cardiac arrest survival rates.”

RQI Partners will deliver the RQI-T program to PSAPs, while IAED’s research-based protocols will help standardize telephone CPR instructions. The IAED supports first responder-related research and strengthens the emergency dispatch community through education, certification and accreditation.

“The CPR protocol in the Priority Dispatch System is designed specifically to provide the highest level of response as quickly as possible,” said Ron McDaniel, president of Priority Dispatch. “We see a natural synergy between the work being done by RQI Partners and our own work with tens of thousands of emergency telecommunicators. This collaboration—combining science-based protocols with focused dispatcher education, certification and training—can significantly increase the chances of success in improving survival rates.”

RQI-T is now available to the emergency dispatch community. To learn more about RQI-T, visit rqipartners.com/rqit.

About Priority Dispatch

Priority Dispatch supports emergency dispatch centers around the world with the technology, tools and training required to meet the needs of all types of dispatch environments. As the exclusive licensee and distributor of the IAED’s unified protocol systems, Priority Dispatch integrates these protocols with the technology of ProQA software. ProQA enables dispatch operators to respond confidently and accurately with science-based protocols, time-tested across hundreds of millions of calls around the world. Learn more at www.prioritydispatch.net.

About International Academies of Emergency Dispatch (IAED)

The IAED is the world’s foremost standard-setting and certification organization for emergency communications with over 64,000 members in 46 countries. More than 3,000 communication centers in 23 languages employ IAED’s protocols and training in medical, fire and police dispatching. Learn more at www.emergencydispatch.org.