Outcomes of Cardiac Arrest in Brunei Darussalam

Cardiac arrest outcomes in Brunei Darussalam have not been previously reported. The mean (SD) time of arrest to cardiopulmonary resuscitation in hospital was 1.6 min (2.31 min; range 0–6 min) compared to the mean (SD) time of arrest to first cardiopulmonary resuscitation out of hospital of 19 min (23.91 min; range 0–87 min). The majority (71.2%) were out-of-hospital cardiac arrests (OHCA) (versus in-hospital cardiac arrests (IHCA)). One-year median survival for cardiac arrests was 1.4% which is below survival rates reported by other groups previously. Median 1-month survival rates were 25% for IHCA versus 5% for OHCA. Survival rates at 1 month for shockable rhythms were better (40%; p<0.001) for IHCA versus 16.7% for OHCA. Survival from cardiac arrests is low in Brunei Darussalam. This is associated with low rates of bystander cardiopulmonary resuscitation and may need to be addressed to improve outcomes.