BC Cardiac Arrest Registry

Overview

The British Columbia (BC) Cardiac Arrest Registry is a research-quality registry capturing data for every out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) in the province of BC. The data is obtained from multiple sources and including the BC Emergency Health Services (BCEHS), municipal BC Fire departments and hospital records. It includes patient demographics, time-stamped prehospital bystander, first-responder and paramedic interventions, as well as patient survival and neurological outcomes at hospital discharge.

The purpose of the registry is to monitor out-of-hospital treatments and outcomes in BC: 1) for incidence and outcome surveillance; 2) to identify opportunities for quality improvement; and 3) to monitor the effects of changes in care processes or outside influences such as pandemics. The BC Cardiac Arrest Registry has provided data for many publications, has informed clinical protocols, as well as governmental reports.

The BC Cardiac Arrest Registry is a founding member of and contributes data to the national Canadian Resuscitation Outcomes Consortium ( CanROC) using a standardized dataset to be consistent with other jurisdictions in Canada. The ultimate goal of the registry is to be a tool to increase survival from cardiac arrest.

Guiding Principles 

  • Accurate, high quality and well maintained data.
  • Accountability and transparency in data collection, processing and dissemination.
  • Data privacy, security, and data management best practices.

Apply to use BC Cardiac Registry Data

Parties interested in using the BC Cardiac Arrest Registry data are required to apply through the BC RESURECT Research Committee.  Each submission must then be sponsored by a committee member, and must also have a BCEHS collaborator. Applicants must present the proposed protocol to the Research Committee for feedback. Once the protocol has been approved by the committee, it requires sign-off from one of the RESURECT co-directors and the BCEHS Research Committee for data access approval. Applicants must sign a data agreement outlining the responsibilities of the researcher with regards to data security, use and return. Registry data can only be analysed in a protected research environment to maintain privacy. Only summary tables needed for publication can be removed from that environment. Once the research has been completed researchers must send their manuscripts to the Executive Committee for review prior to submission. 

Contact us for more information on applying.