U.S. Medicine article credits REdI program for helping Veterans
By Gerald Sonnenberg
EES Marketing and Communication
ORLANDO, Fla. – A recent article published by U.S. Medicine referenced VHA’s Resuscitation Education Initiative (REdI) as being one of the factors which may be contributing to a better performance by VA hospitals. The article “In-Hospital Cardiac Arrest Has Higher Survival Rates at VA Hospitals,” by Annette M. Boyle, presented the findings of a research effort conducted at VA hospitals in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The study was then presented at the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association 2017 Scientific Sessions and Resuscitation Science Symposium.
According to the article, “The study investigators analyzed data from all Veterans who experienced an in-hospital cardiac arrest (IHCA) at any VA hospital between January 2013 and June 2015. A total of 5,252 patients suffered IHCA at 94 facilities. At the VA hospitals, a median of 33.6 percent patients survived to discharge. Nationally, about 200,000 patients suffer in-hospital cardiac arrests, and 18-20 percent live until discharge, according to a study in the Journal of the American Heart Association. IHCA survival rates at VA hospitals ranged from 23.2 percent to 56.1 percent, with half of the hospitals posting rates between 30.1 percent and 36.5 percent. The national range demonstrated much greater variability, with individual hospital survival rates of 0 percent to 51.7 percent.”
In the article, co-author of the study Brahmajee Nallamothu, MD, MPH, of the Ann Arbor VA Medical Center (VAMC), said, that several factors might contribute to the better performance of VA hospitals. “Difference in patients and in study methodology could account for some of that. The VA’s national focus on ‘ensuring high-quality education and certification for its providers through the Resuscitation Education Initiative (REdI)’ likely also contributes to the more positive outcomes at VA hospitals.”
REdI is a VHA national program that standardizes, documents, tracks and monitors the provisions of Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS), Basic Life Support (BLS), and Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS) training throughout VHA. REdI is organized under Employee Education System (EES) and is aligned organizationally with the Simulation Learning, Education and Research Network or SimLEARN.
For the entire article, click here. For more information about the REdI program click here. For more about EES, click here.
Excerpts of the article are published here with permission.
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To learn more about SimLEARN, click here.
