Characteristics Associated With Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrests and Resuscitations During the Novel Coronavirus Disease 2019 Pandemic in New York City

Abstract

On March 1, 2020, the first case of novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) was diagnosed in New York City, New York (NYC); by April 25, 2020, 17 118 confirmed and probable deaths due to COVID-19 had already occurred.¹ On April 6, 2020, NYC out-of-hospital cardiac arrests peaked at 305 cases, an increase of almost 10-fold compared with April 6, 2019. In Northern Italy, during the COVID-19 pandemic, out-of-hospital cardiac arrests increased by 58% compared with the same time period in 2019 and were associated with lower rates of sustained return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC).² Infectious viral epidemics causing severe respiratory infections have long been associated with an increased risk of death.^3-7 For the COVID-19 pandemic, factors independently associated with in-hospital deaths included being older than 65 years, hypertension, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).⁸