The International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation (ILCOR) was founded on November 22, 1992, and currently includes representatives from the American Heart Association (AHA), the European Resuscitation Council (ERC), the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada (HSFC), the Australian and New Zealand Committee on Resuscitation (ANZCOR), Resuscitation Council of Southern Africa (RCSA), the InterAmerican Heart Foundation (IAHF), and the Resuscitation Council of Asia (RCA). Its mission is to identify and review international science and knowledge relevant to cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and emergency cardiovascular care (ECC) and when there is consensus to offer treatment recommendations. Emergency cardiovascular care includes all responses necessary to treat sudden life-threatening events affecting the cardiovascular and respiratory systems, with a particular focus on sudden cardiac arrest.

In 1999, the AHA hosted the first ILCOR conference to evaluate resuscitation science and develop common resuscitation guidelines. The conference recommendations were published in the International Guidelines 2000 for Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation and Emergency Cardiovascular Care .1 Since 2000, researchers from the ILCOR member councils have evaluated resuscitation science in 5-year cycles. The conclusions and recommendations of the 2005 International Consensus Conference on Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation and Emergency Cardiovascular Care Science With Treatment Recommendations were published at the end of 2005.2,3 The most recent International Consensus Conference was held in Dallas in February 2010, and this publication contains the consensus science statements and treatment recommendations developed with input from the invited participants.

The goal of every resuscitation organization and resuscitation expert is to prevent premature cardiovascular death. When cardiac arrest or life-threatening emergencies occur, prompt and skillful response can make the difference between life and death and between intact survival and debilitation. This document summarizes the 2010 evidence evaluation of published science about the recognition and response to sudden life-threatening events, particularly sudden cardiac arrest and periarrest events in …

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Part 1: Executive summary: 2010 International Consensus on Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation and Emergency Cardiovascular Care Science With Treatment Recommendations.

Objective: Provide a systematic review of the published literature assessing the affect of trauma center/system implementation on patient outcomes. Data Sources: A bibliographic search of MEDLINE (1966 -May of 1998), HealthSTAR (1995 - May of 1998), and CINAHL (1982 - May of 1998). Additional manuscripts were identified in the references of reviewed manuscripts. Literature was limited to English language reports on trauma systems in the United States and Canada. Study Selection: Initial inclusion criteria were based on methodologic criteria (i.e., a comparative [controlled] study). Authors independently assessed the strength of evidence demonstrated by each article. Data Extraction: Included articles were classified into three groups based on study design: panel review studies, trauma registry comparison studies, and population-based studies. Key demographic, sampling frame, study design, and outcome variables were tabulated for each included study. Potential sources of bias were also identified and tabled. Data Synthesis: A total of 12, 11, and 17 studies were incorporated into individual evidence tables for panel review, registry comparison, and population-based studies, respectively. Included studies rely on weak evidence (Class III) to assess the impact of trauma systems on patient care and outcome. Conclusions: To date, studies assessing trauma system efficacy rely on hospital deaths as the primary indicator of effectiveness. Future research should use more sophisticated study designs (Class II) and expand available outcome measures to assess the entire continuum of care, including prehospital, rehabilitation outcomes, and long-term quality of life.

Systematic review of published evidence regarding trauma system effectiveness.

Out-of-hospital cardiac arrest continues to be an important public health problem, with large and important regional variations in outcomes Survival rates vary widely among patients treated with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest by emergency medical services and among patients transported to the hospital after return of spontaneous circulation Most regions lack a well-coordinated approach to post-cardiac arrest care Effective hospital-based interventions for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest exist but are used infrequently Barriers to implementation of these interventions include lack of knowledge, experience, personnel, resources, and infrastructure A well-defined relationship between an increased volume of patients or procedures and better outcomes among individual providers and hospitals has been observed for several other clinical disorders Regional systems of care have improved provider experience and patient outcomes for those with ST-elevation myocardial infarction and life-threatening traumatic injury This statement describes the rationale for regional systems of care for patients resuscitated from cardiac arrest and the preliminary recommended elements of such systems Many more people could potentially survive out-of-hospital cardiac arrest if regional systems of cardiac resuscitation were established A national process is necessary to develop and implement evidence-based guidelines for such systems that must include standards for the categorization, verification, and designation of components of such systems The time to do so is now

Regional Systems of Care for Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest A Policy Statement From the American Heart Association

Part 12: Education, implementation, and teams: 2010 International consensus on cardiopulmonary resuscitation and emergency cardiovascular care science with treatment recommendations

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Papers

Regionalization of trauma patient care: the Illinois experience.

Categorization of hospital emergency medical capabilities in Illinois: A statewide experience.

Illinois emergency medical service system: status report III (July, 1974).