Why Should a State Become a HeartRescue Partner?

HeartRescue United States provides a means to affect positive change for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, one of the leading causes of mortality in the US. Resuscitation from out-of-hospital cardiac arrest is a benchmark condition for an emergency system, providing a high-fidelity condition that represents the general quality of emergency care. As such, the recent IOM report highlighted the importance of measurement and fundamental programs that can improve cardiac arrest care. HeartRescue provides the roadmap to efficiently achieve this IOM pronouncement and thereby improve the emergency system of care for a given community.

The range of expertise involved in HeartRescue underscores the multidisciplinary team approach that is so necessary to snatch life from the jaws of death represented by the challenge of cardiac arrest. The collective can help guide stakeholders toward progress based on a wealth of experience and insights. The consequence can be measured through a remarkable group of individuals who are rescued from cardiac arrest and return to meaningful lives and contribute to their communities.

Are There Benefits to Becoming a HeartRescue State Partner?

HeartRescue brings knowledge, experience, expertise, and momentum to those seeking to improve resuscitation care. As part of the initiative, HeartRescue will partner with interested stakeholders to detail an action plan aimed to measure and improve resuscitation care. Specifically HeartRescue:

• Invites interested stakeholders to attend the Resuscitation Academy to understand the key opportunities that can advance scientific understanding to true community-based action plans.
• Assists interested leaders to host their own Resuscitation Academy forums.
• Sponsors “seed projects” that can build momentum toward a larger initiative aimed at improving resuscitation.
• Guides stakeholders through challenges involved with case surveillance, data collection, program implementation, and results interpretation.
• Welcomes participation with the HeartRescue leadership group as it works to build constructive health policy, evaluate important research questions, foster professional collaboration, and advance the public health mission to improve cardiac arrest survival.

What is the Process for Becoming a HeartRescue State Partner?

HeartRescue is designed to be user-friendly, meaning all those involved should feel HeartRescue is a consistent advocate that helps make efforts aimed at improving resuscitation easier and more effective. With this principle in mind, the first step in the process to become a HeartRescue partner state simply involves a communication to HeartResccue leadership to learn more. HeartRescue will work to help assure that a state’s resuscitation leadership understands the goals and objectives and can help inform efficient approaches to create a state-based improvement project involving out-of-hospital cardiac arrest.

What are the Expectations as a HeartRescue State Partner?

The specific expectations of a HeartRescue partner state correspond to the mantra “measure and improve”.  HeartRescue works with interested states to undertake case capture and measurement through a common cardiac arrest registry. HeartRescue helps system stakeholder engineer strategies designed for their communities that can improve resuscitation care.

HeartResccue appreciates that the initiative may best be advanced through a staged approach that engages committed communities who can in turn assist their neighbors, all the while having the HeartRescue collective at the ready to help with key questions or challenges. As part of HeartRescue, each state is able to provide an objective profile of state- and system-based resuscitation care. HeartRescue brings together these state reports and highlights best practices as part of their annual report. Importantly, each state has ownership and control. The goal is to create value for states and communities through the quality improvement initiative.

To learn more about becoming a HeartRescue state partner, contact:

Thomas Rea MD MPH
University of Washington