Aim While there is a lot of studies dealing with out out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) in adults, data about OHCA in children age (CH-OHCA) are rarely published. The aim of this study is to describe epidemiology and results of CH-OHCA in City of Prague.

Method This is a retrospective analysis of epidemiology and survival rates of CH-OHCA during period from 2003 to 2015. The data are taken from Prague OHCA Utstein-style database.

Results In the study period, there were 6 626 OHCAs attended by Prague EMS, of which 121 met the criteria of CH-OHCA (1.8%, 0.78 CH-OHCA per 100.000 inhabitants and year). The majority of CH-OHCA occurred in age groups 0–0.99 (35; 28.9%; p<0.05) and 1–1.99 (26; 21.5% p<0,05). In no other age group the number of CH-OHCA exceeded 9 (n/s). No CH-OHCA was witnessed by ambulance personnel. Layperson CPR was performed in 95 cases (78,5%). The first captured rhythm was most often asystole (96; 79.4%). Ventricular fibrillation (VF-first subgroup) as the first rhythm was present in 12 patients (10.0%). The most common cause of CH-OHCA was recorded as unknown (39%). The overall survival rate from CH-OHCA (with CPC 1–2) was 10.7%, in VF-first subgroup it was 41.7%.

Conclusion CH-OHCA is relatively rare event. The most vulnerable group is children under 2 years of age. Small children are most frequently found in asystole, while VF occurs more frequently in age over 15. Even though CH-OHCA is uncommon in pre-hospital setting, everyone in the emergency service must be adequately trained for it.

Conflict of interest None

Funding None