Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest: A Strategy for Scotland

3RU

Rapid Resuscitation Response Unit

4RU

Rapid Rural Resuscitation Response Unit

A-A

Arrhythmia Alliance - http://www.heartrhythmcharity.org.uk

AACE

Association of Ambulance Chief Executives

ACA

Ambulance Care Assistant

ACC

Ambulance Control Centre

AED

Automated External Defibrillator

AF

Atrial Fibrillation. Irregular heart rhythm

ALS

Advanced Life Support

AMI

Acute Myocardial Infarction. Medical term for a heart attack

AMPDS

Advanced Medical Priority Dispatch Software

Arrhythmia

An abnormal heart rhythm

AVLS

Automatic Vehicle Location System

BASICS

British Association for Immediate Care

BHF

British Heart Foundation - https://www.bhf.org.uk

BLS

Basic Life Support

Bystander

A lay person or non-Emergency Medical Service personnel

CAD

Computer Aided Dispatch

CCU

Coronary Care Unit

CFR

Community First Responder

CHI

Community Health Index

CHSS

Chest Heart and Stroke Scotland - http://www.chss.org.uk

COPFS

Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service

Co-Responder

In Scotland this refers to schemes where the Scottish Fire & Rescue Service and the Scottish Ambulance Service work in partnership to provide an effective, rapid response to immediately life threatening medical emergencies, specifically in locations where the Fire Service will be able to get to the call more quickly.

CPP

Community Planning Partnership

CPR

Cardio-Pulmonary Resuscitation. Chest compressions and breaths delivered to a person who has suffered a cardiac arrest. 'Bystander CPR' refers to CPR delivered by someone who happens to be at the scene of an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest as distinct from CPR delivered by emergency medical personnel.

CSP

Community Safety Partnership

DNACPR

Do Not Attempt CPR

ECS

Emergency Care Summary

ED

Emergency Department

EHR

Electronic Health Record

ELS

Emergency Life Support

EMERGE

Emergency Medicine Research Group, Edinburgh - www.emergeresearch.com

EMR

Emergency Medical Response

EMRS

Emergency Medical Retrieval Service - www.emrs.scot.nhs.uk

EMS

Emergency Medical Services

EPR

Electronic Patient Record

ePRF

Electronic Patient Report Form

ERC

European Resuscitation Council - https://www.erc.edu

FANS

Familial Arrhythmia Network for Scotland - http://www.fans.scot.nhs.uk

First Responder

A person who has completed a course and received certification in providing pre-hospital care for medical emergencies. They have more skill than someone who is trained in basic first aid but they are not a substitute for advanced medical care rendered by emergency medical technicians (EMTs), doctors, nurses, or paramedics.

FPHC

Faculty of Pre-Hospital Care - http://www.fphc.co.uk

GPS

Global Positioning System

GROS

General Register Office for Scotland

Heart Attack

Damage to the heart caused by a clot in the coronary arteries-requires emergency treatment in hospital.

Heartstart

A training initiative set up by the British Heart Foundation which covers a range of Emergency Life Support (ELS) Skills including cardiac arrest.

HMFSI

Her Majesty's Fire Service Inspectorate in Scotland

ICD

Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator. A device put inside the chest to correct Ventricular Tachycardia (VT) and Ventricular Fibrillation (VF).

ICU

Intensive Care Unit

ISD

Information Services Division

LARGS

Local Authority Resilience Group Scotland

NEJM

New England Journal of Medicine

OHCA

Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest

PAD

Public Access Defibrillator

PBD

Priority Based Despatch

PCI

Percutaneous Coronary Intervention

PEA

Pulseless electrical activity. Refers to a cardiac arrest situation in which a heart rhythm is observed on the electrocardiogram that should be producing a pulse, but is not. Under normal circumstances, electrical activation of muscle cells precedes mechanical contraction of the heart (known as electromechanical coupling). In PEA, there is electrical activity, but the heart either does not contract or there are other reasons why this results in an insufficient cardiac output to generate a pulse and supply blood to the organs.

PHI

Public Health and Intelligence. Formerly called ISD (Information Services Division) - http://www.isdscotland.org

PLE

Pronounced Life Extinct

Police Scotland

Police Scotland - http://www.scotland.police.uk

PRU

Paramedic Response Unit

PTS

Patient Transport Service

QI

Quality Improvement

QALY

Quality-Adjusted Life Year. This is a concept used in assessing the value for money of medical interventions. The QALY is based on the number of years of life that would be added by the intervention and the quality of life lived.

QCPR/Q-CPR

Device designed to help the rescuer perform the most effective and consistent chest compressions on a sudden cardiac arrest victim. Also known as a 'puck'.

RDS

Retained duty system. Firefighters live and work away from their fire station and are alerted to attend emergency calls by means of a pager.

ROSC

Return of Spontaneous Circulation

RRG

Resuscitation Research Group - http://www.rrg-edinburgh.com

RRU

Rapid Response Unit

SAS

Scottish Ambulance Service - http://www.scottishambulance.com

SCA

Sudden Cardiac Arrest

Scot-ROC

Scottish Resuscitation Outcomes Consortium

SFRS

Scottish Fire and Rescue Service - http://www.firescotland.gov.uk

SGHSC

Scottish Government Health and Social Care Directorates

SICSAG

Scottish Intensive Care Society Audit Group

SIMD

Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation

SMR

Scottish Morbidity Record

Social Marketing

Social Marketing seeks to develop and integrate marketing concepts with other approaches to influence behaviours that benefit individuals and communities for the greater social good.

SPELS

Scottish Police Emergency Lifesaving Saving

St Andrew's First Aid

St Andrew's First Aid - www.firstaid.org.uk

T-CPR

Telephone directed bystander CPR

UCD

Unscheduled Care Datamart

Utstein

Internationally recognised criteria for uniform reporting of cardiac arrest.

VF

Ventricular Fibrillation: A condition in which there is uncoordinated contraction of the heart muscle, which can potentially be corrected by early defibrillation.

WTE

Whole Time Equivalent