If you're going to have a heart attack, go to Edmonton

[five_alarm]

EDMONTON, AB - If your heart stops suddenly in Edmonton, there is an almost 50-50 chance that a bystander will drop down and perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation -- your best chance of survival. But if the same fate befalls you in Ottawa, your odds of getting CPR from a bystander are about one in 10. As a result, the survival rate for cardiac arrest is three times as high in Edmonton as in Ottawa: 9 per cent versus 2.7 per cent, even though response times by emergency workers such as firefighters and paramedics are virtually identical in the two cities. That is just one of the findings in newly published research that, for the first time, attempts to determine what happens to victims of cardiac arrest in various parts of Canada. "Edmonton is obviously doing something right and that should make us wonder why others are not learning from that example," said Christian Vaillancourt, a scientist at the Ottawa Health Research Institute. "But you need to have the data to learn those lessons and the collection of data is quite poor," Dr. Vaillancourt said. Dr. Vaillancourt did not specifically study why Edmonton does best, but suggested it is a combination of quick intervention by citizens; 911 operators who counsel callers on how to perform CPR; and quick response by emergency crews.

Source: The Globe and Mail (http://www.firehall.com/refer.php?url=http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/20040924/HHEART24/TPHealth/&linkid=941&parent=news(headlines)&)