FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Resuscitation programs and education for fire service leaders are central elements to improve survival rates

Resuscitation programs and education for fire service leaders are central elements to improve survival rates

DALLAS, Feb. 27, 2020 – The American Heart Association states more than 350,000 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests occur in the United States annually. About 90% of people who experience an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest die. A time-critical, life-threatening condition, out-of-hospital cardiac arrest requires optimum performance from emergency medical services (EMS) professionals and victims must receive high-quality CPR to improve the chance of survival.

RQI Partners LLC, a partnership between the American Heart Association, the world’s leading voluntary organization devoted to a world of longer, healthier lives, and Laerdal Medical, a global leader in providing healthcare solutions, agrees with the International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC) that dismal cardiac arrest outcomes present a public health crisis. Today, RQI Partners and the IAFC, which represents firefighter and emergency responder leadership worldwide, announce their shared commitment and collaboration to help double out-of-hospital survival by 2025 by educating fire service leaders on new resuscitation programs, strategies and resources that can help deliver more positive cardiac arrest results.

“We are pleased to align with the IAFC in taking important and much-needed steps to improve out-of-hospital cardiac arrest survival,” said Clive Patrickson, RQI Partners’ chief executive officer. “Combining the American Heart Association and Laerdal Medical’s proven resuscitation quality improvement programs for prehospital and public safety responders with the reach and influence of the IAFC will ensure that all professionals who respond to a cardiac arrest event have the tools, skills and knowledge to perform high-quality CPR confidently and competently.”

Last May, the American Heart Association, Laerdal Medical and the Resuscitation Academy Foundation introduced four resuscitation quality improvement programs for prehospital and public safety responders to help increase out-of-hospital cardiac arrest survival in communities. Two programs are designed for firefighters, emergency medical technicians and paramedics, the core audience the IAFC supports and represents. One targets public safety answering points, where many fire departments have operational oversight, and the fourth program helps EMS systems assess current performance and how to improve out-of-hospital cardiac arrest survival rates. The programs are delivered by RQI Partners on behalf of the American Heart Association and Laerdal Medical.

“The IAFC is pleased to work with RQI Partners to help educate fire service leaders on new resuscitation programs to save more lives,” said Fire Chief Gary Ludwig, IAFC president and chairman of the board. “The resuscitation quality improvement programs and system assessment that are now available to emergency medical services agencies will help our leaders enhance their teams’ CPR readiness when responding to a cardiac arrest and evaluate the effectiveness of their community’s chain of survival.”

Built on the foundation of the Resuscitation Academy’s expertise and success in increasing out-of-hospital cardiac arrest survival in Seattle and the Resuscitation Quality Improvement^® (RQI^®) methodology of verified CPR competence and mastery learning, the programs include:

• RQI EMS, a blended learning program for EMS providers that promotes mastery of high-quality CPR through short, frequent skills sessions, and RQI for Teams, a high-performance CPR quality improvement program developed for individuals who respond to medical emergencies as a team.
• RQI Telecommunicator (RQI-T) is 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.
• Cardiac Arrest System Assessment engages EMS systems on how to improve survival rates from out-of-hospital cardiac arrest through evaluation and measurement of response performance.

To learn more about RQI Partners and its suite of prehospital resuscitation quality improvement programs, visit rqipartners.com. Visit iafc.org to learn more about the International Association of Fire Chiefs.

About the International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC)

The IAFC represents the leadership of firefighters and emergency responders worldwide. IAFC members are the world’s leading experts in firefighting, emergency medical services, terrorism response, hazardous response, natural disasters, search and rescue, and public safety legislation. Since 1873, the IAFC has provided a forum for its members to exchange ideas, develop professionally and uncover the latest products and services available to first responders. Learn more.

For Media Inquiries, contact:
IAFC: Jim Philipps; 703-537-4829; jphilipps@iafc.org