Dominika Skrocka provides some takeaways from the Scottish Cardiac Arrest Symposium emphasising collaboration for cardiac care improvement. By Dominika Skrocka | Save a Life for Scotland Project Coordinator On Friday 6 October, the Resuscitation Research Group hosted the Scottish Cardiac Arrest Symposium 2023 (SCAS23). This culture shifting event shed light on the imperative need for collaboration in making a positive change to out-of-hospital cardiac arrest survival rates in Scotland. Image Themed "Getting Our Shift Together," the symposium underscored the importance of working collectively across systems to enhance emergency care. The day featured insightful discussions on Health Inequalities and Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest, high quality pre-hospital Advanced Life Support, ECMO-CPR, bystander aftercare, and the GoodSAM responder app. Notable speakers, including Professor Jason Leitch (Scottish Government) and Professor Lionel Lamhaut (SAMU de Paris), shared their wisdom in TED-style talks. Image Held at the Hilton DoubleTree near Edinburgh Airport, the symposium comprised main speeches, Flash Talks (five-minute showcase presentations of local research and innovation), and the distinguished Newton Award and Lecture delivered this year by Paul Gowens (Scottish Ambulance Service). Delegates also participated in a series of workshops including a high fidelity ECMO-CPR demonstration, review of approaches to Paediatric and Traumatic cardiac arrest, and a session on high performance prehospital resuscitation and feedback facilitated by platinum sponsor Zoll Medical. The impact of SCAS23, as per attendee evaluations, included: 60% now confidently understand the potential of ECMO CPR in Scotland. 70% expressed a likelihood of signing up for GoodSAM post-event. 93% indicated a probable return for future SCAS events. 89% reported enjoying the event "very much." 96% would recommend SCAS to others. Sponsorship by industry leaders such as Zoll Medical, Mindray, and Ortus, meant SCAS23 was free to attend and signifies a joint commitment to advancing emergency care and resuscitation practices. Resuscitation Research Group The Resuscitation Research Group at the University of Edinburgh sits within the Centre for Population Health Sciences at the Usher Institute. The group has a range of interests themed around optimising the management of critically ill patients which includes the physiology and clinical management of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, non-technical skills in time-critical resuscitation, the physiology of fluid resuscitation and the psychology of critical human interactions during the chain of survival. Further resources Watch all the SCAS23 presentation recordings View the SCAS23 official event photographs Stay informed at the Save a Life for Scotland website Follow Save a Life for Scotland on X @SaveALifeScot Find out more about the Resuscitation Research Group Publication date 22 Nov, 2023
