Table1. Global Comparison of incidence and survival rate for OHCA. Based on MEDLINE and IGAKU-CHUOH-ZASSHI databases* published during 1985-98.
Country Location Duration Population Types of IR of CPR-Attempted OHCA Cardiac-OHCA VF-OHCA Witnessed-VF OHCA
EMS personnel IR  IR of survivors Survival Rate (%) IR IR of Survivors Survival Rate (%) IR IR of Survivors Survival Rate (%)
U.S.A. King County, Washington 1976-83 70 BLS+BLS-D+ALS 39 (37―41) 7.1 (6.4―7.9) 18 (16―20)    ―    
San Juan Island, Pacific Northwest 1977-94 0.5 BLS-D+ALS 114 (93―138)  91 (72―113) 19 (11―31) 21 (13―32)    ―     46 (33―62) 19 (11―31) 43 (27―59)
Minnesota 1982-84 20 BLS+BLS-D+ALS 145 (134―158) 128 (117―140) 4.0 (2.3―6.5) 3.1 (1.8―5.0)    ―     10.3 (5.2―18)
Monroe County, New York 1986-87 71 BLS+ALS 65 (59―71) 48 (43―53) 3.4 (2.2―5.0) 7.0 (4.6―10)    ―    
New York City 1986-93 13 BLS+BLS-D+ALS 47 (43―51) 40 (36―44) 0.7 (0.3―1.4) 1.7 (0.7―3.5)    ―    
Pennsylvania 1987-91 15 BLS+ALS 88 (81―95) 71 (65―77) 3.7 (2.5―5.4) 5.3 (3.5―7.5) 34 (30―39) 2.9 (1.8―4.4) 8.5 (5.4―13)
Chicago 1987 270 ALS 146 (142―151) 119 (115―124) 2.0 (1.5―2.7) 1.7 (1.3―2.2) 28 (26―30) 1.1 (0.7―1.5) 3.8 (2.6―5.5)
Houston, Texas 1988-89 180 68 (65―72) 55 (51―58) 5.4 (4.4―6.6) 9.8 (8.1―12) 23 (21―25) 4.3 (3.4―5.4) 19 (15―23) 9.6 (8.2―11) 1.4 (0.9―2.1) 15 (10―21)
Memphis, Ten 1989-92 61 BLS+BLS-D+ALS 53 (50―56) 4.2 (3.4―5.2) 8.0 (6.4―9.7) 26 (24―28) 3.1 (2.4―4.0) 12 (9.5―15)
Oakland, Michigan 1989-93 100 BLS+ALS 63 (61―65)    ―        ―     13 (12―14)
York Adams, Pennsylvania 1988-89 41 BLS+ALS 87 (81―94) 73 (67―79) 4.4 (3.1―6.1) 6.0 (4.2―8.2) 33 (29―37) 3.3 (2.2―4.8) 10 (6.7―14)
New York City 1990-91 733 BLS-D+ALS 89 (85―92) 64 (61―66) 1.4 (1.1―1.9) 2.2 (1.7―2.9)    ―     13 (12―14) 1.0 (0.7―1.4) 7.9 (5.7―11)
Canada Ontario 1986-87 150 BLS 50 (47―54) 1.1 (0.6―1.7) 2.1 (1.2―3.4)    ―    
Ontario 1988-89 150 BLS-D 50 (47―54) 1.5 (0.9―2.2) 2.9 (1.8―4.4)    ―    
Hamilton-Wentworth, Ontario 1990-91 45 BLS+BLS-D+ALS 67 (59―75) 2.7 (1.4―4.7) 4.0 (2.1―7.0) 26 (22―31) 2.5 (1.2―4.4) 9.5 (4.8―16)
Finland Helsinki 1987 50 BLS+Ph 53 (47―60) 48 (42―55)    ―        ―     29 (24―34) 8.2 (5.9―11) 29 (21―37)
Helsinki 1991-92 51 BLS-D+ALS+Ph 55 (49―62) 47 (41―53)    ―        ―     24 (20―28) 6.5 (4.5―9.1) 28 (20―36)
Helsinki 1992-93 51 BLS-D+ALS+Ph 63 (57―71) 61 (54―68)    ―        ―     26 (20―29) 8.0 (5.8―11) 32 (24―40)
Helsinki 1994 52 BLS-D+ALS+Ph 67 (60―74) 46(40―52) 9.7 (7.2―12.8) 21 (16―27)    ―     24 (20―29) 7.6 (5.4―10) 31 (23―40)
Germany Bonn 1989-92 24 BLS+BLS-D+ALS 54 (50―59) 48 (44―53) 7.7 (6.1―9.7) 16 (13―20) 22 (19―25) 5.4 (4.0―7.1) 25 (19―31) 15 (13―18) 5.0 (3.7―6.6) 34 (26―42)
Mainz 1991-92 18 BLS+BLS-D+ALS 90 (79―92) 84 (73―96) 7.5 (4.5―12) 9.0 (5.5―14) 35 (28―43) 5.9 (3.3―9.7) 17 (9.6―26) 21 (16―28) 5.2 (2.8―8.8) 24 (14―38)
Gottingen 1994-95 16 ALS+Ph 84 (73―98) 71 (60―84) 16 (11―22) 22 (16―30)    ―     23 (17―30) 9.8 (6.1―15) 44 (30―59)
Netherland Leiden 1989-92 20 BLS+ALS 45 (40―50) 6.1 (4.4―8.3) 14 (10―18) 29 (25―34) 5.8 (4.2―7.9) 20 (15―26)
Amsterdam 1995-97 130 ALS 46 (43―48) 37 (35―40) 4.8 (4.0―5.6) 13 (11―15) 23 (21―25)    ―     18 (17―20)               
Sweden Goteborg 1980-92 43 BLS+BLS-D+ALS 64 (62―67) 54 (52―56)    ―        ―     18 (17―19)               
U.K. South Glamorgan 1989-92 41   84 (78―89) 61 (57―66) 3.9 (2.8―5.2) 6.3 (4.6―8.4) 20 (18―23)    ―     17 (15―20) 3.6 (2.6―4.9) 21 (16―28)
Edinburgh 1994-95 75 BLS-D+ALS 55 (49―60) 37 (33―41) 2.1 (1.2―3.5) 5.8 (3.4―9.3)    ―    
Slovenia Ljubljana 1995-97 40 BLS+ALS 38 (35―42) 28 (25―32) 2.0 (1.3―3.0) 5.6 (3.4―8.7) 10 (8.4―12) 1.6 (1.0―2.5) 12 (7.1―20) 9.6 (7.9―12) 1.3 (0.7―2.1) 13 (7.6―21)
Italy Friuli Venezia Giulia region 1994 94 BLS+ALS+Ph 47 (42―51) 37 (33―41) 2.5 (1.6―3.7) 6.7 (4.3―9.9)    ―    
France Saint-Etienne 1991-92 57 BLS-D+Ph 41 (36―47) 20 (16―24) 1.4 (0.6―2.8) 7.1 (3.1―14) 7.9 (5.8―11) 1.2 (0.5―2.5) 16 (6.5―30) 6.8 (4.9―9.3) 1.2 (0.5―2.5) 18 (7.5―34)
N.Z. Auckland 1983 94 BLS+ALS 43 (39―48) 26 (23―29) 4.3 (3.1―5.8) 17 (12―22) 25 (23―27) 4.8 (4.0―5.7) 19 (17―23)
Auckland 1991-93 94 BLS-D+ALS 42 (40―44) 38 (36―41) 4.8 (4.0―5.7) 13 (11―15)                4.0 (2.8―5.5) 19 (18―21) 3.2 (2.5―3.9) 16 (13―20)
Australia Ipswich & West Moreton Shires 1985-89 9 BLS+BLS-D+ALS 51 (44―58) 4.0 (2.3―6.4) 7.9 (4.7―12.4) 24 (20―29) 3.5 (2.0―5.8) 15 (8.4―23)
Israel Magen David Adom 1984-85 329 BLS+ALS+Ph 46 (44―47) 3.0 (2.6―3.5) 6.6 (5.7―7.6) 14 (13―15) 2.2 (1.8―2.6) 16 (13―18)
China Hong-Kong 1990-92 45 BLS 23 (21―26) 12 (10―14) 0.4 (0.1―0.9) 3.0 (0.8―7.4)    ―    
Taiwan Taipei 1992-93 270 BLS 26 (24―28) 20 (18―22) 0.3 (0.1―0.6) 1.4 (0.5―3.1)    ―    
Japan Funabashi 1993-97 54 BLS+BLS-D+Ph 34 (31―36) 18 (16―20) 0.6 (0.3―1.0) 5.4 (3.8―8.2)    ―     2.7 (2.0―3.5) 0.6 (0.3―1.0) 21 (11―33)
Akita* 1995-98 31 BLS+BLS-D 49 (45―53) 20 (17―22) 2.0 (1.3―2.9) 10.0 (6.6―15) 4.4 (3.3―5.7) 1.6 (1.0―2.4) 36 (24―50) 3.6 (2.6―4.8) 1.4 (0.8―2.3) 40 (26―56)
Otsu* 1997-98 30 BLS+BLS-D 47 (42―53) 26 (22―30) 1.6 (0.8―3.0) 6.3 (3.1―11) 3.6 (2.3―5.4) 1.1 (0.5―2.4) 32 (14―55) 2.6 (1.5―4.2) 0.8 (0.3―1.9) 31 (11―59)
  Izumo* 1998-99 13 BLS+BLS-D 40 (31―49) 20 (15―27) 2.0 (0.5―5.1) 9.1 (1.1―29) 5.9 (3.1―10) 1.5 (0.3―4.3) 25 (5.5―57) 3.5 (1.4―7.1) 1.0 (0.1―3.6) 29 (3.7―71)
* Manual data from three settings in Japan were also included
Types of EMS: BLS=Basic Life Support Providers, BLS-D=Basic Life Support Providers with defibrillation, ALS=Advanced Life Support Providers, Ph=Physician
IR; Annual incidence rate for 100,000 populations
CPR-attempted OHCA:   OHCA in which CPR were attempted
Cardiac-OHCA:  CPR-attempted OHCA of presumed cardiac etiology
VF-OHCA:  Cardiac-OHCA with ventricular fibrillation as first cardiac rhythm
Witnessed-VF OHCA:  collapse-witnessed cardiac-OHCA with VF as first cardiac rhythm