Tulsa's Cardiac Arrest Survival Rate Higher Than National Average

NewsOn6.com

TULSA, OK -- A medical expert from France is getting a lesson in life-saving skills right here in Oklahoma.

Dr. Jean-Claude Desdelandes specialized in emergency medicine.  He's spending a week with EMSA, studying how its first responders handle emergencies, from the minute someone calls for help to the time they arrive at the hospital.

After hearing a presentation at a medical conference a few months back, he felt compelled to see EMSA's crews in action. And EMSA's medical director was more than happy to share his biggest success secret.

"We could not achieve the high cardiac arrest survival rates, the excellence stroke and heart attack and trauma care without the dedicated skills of our EMT's and paramedics," Dr. Jeffrey Goodloe, EMSA Medical Director, said. "That's what makes our system so excellent."

As for those high cardiac arrest survival rates, EMSA's director says 49 percent of people who have a heart attack outside of a hospital survive in Tulsa.

Compare that to just six percent nationally.