Characteristics of the 106 young adult OHCA survivors (18–39 years of age) in metropolitan Melbourne between 1 January 2003 and 31 December 2008
| Patient and arrest characteristics | Overall (n=106*) | Successful telephone Follow-up group (n=56) | CPC group (n=37) |
| Age at time of arrest | 29 (23–35) | 29 (23–35) | 30 (23–36) |
| Age at time of follow-up | 35 (29–41) | 35 (29–41) | 36 (29–41) |
| Time to follow-up | 5 (4–6) | 5 (4–6) | 4.9 (4–5) |
| Male sex | 78 (74) | 40 (71) | 29 (78) |
| Location of OHCA | |||
| Home | 58 (55) | 33 (59) | 17 (46) |
| Work | 7 (7) | 4 (7) | 3 (8) |
| Street/public place | 24 (23) | 11 (20) | 9 (24) |
| In ambulance | 3 (3) | 3 (5) | 0 (0) |
| Sports venue | 6 (6) | 4 (7) | 2 (5) |
| Other | 8 (7) | 1 (2) | 6 (16) |
| Precipitant to OHCA | |||
| Presumed cardiac | 60 (57) | 36 (64) | 20 (54) |
| Trauma | 9 (8) | 2 (4) | 5 (13) |
| Respiratory | 9 (8) | 7 (12) | 1 (3) |
| Overdose | 20 (19) | 6 (11) | 10 (27) |
| Drowning | 1 (1) | 1 (2) | 0 |
| Hanging | 5 (5) | 2 (4) | 1 (3) |
| Electrocution | 1 (1) | 1 (2) | 0 |
| Sepsis | 1 (1) | 1 (2) | 0 |
| No witness | 32 (30) | 11 (20) | 13 (35) |
| Lay witnessed | 54 (51) | 35 (62) | 15 (41) |
| EMS witnessed | 20 (19) | 10 (18) | 9 (24) |
| Bystander CPR | 42 (40) | 25 (45) | 13 (35) |
| Rhythm | |||
| Ventricular | 55 (52) | 35 (62) | 15 (40) |
| Fibrillation | 14 (13) | 3 (5) | 7 (19) |
| Asystole | 17 (16) | 8 (14) | 6 (16) |
| Pulse Electrical Activity | 20 (19) | 10 (18) | 9 (24) |
↵* Includes those who were not traceable (n=7), died (n=5), CPC not possible from chart information (n=1).
CPC, Cerebral Performance Category; EMS, emergency medical services; OHCA, out-of-hospital cardiac arrest; CPR, cardiopulmonary resuscitation.