Establishing the Korean Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest Registry (KOHCAR)

Background: The Korean out-of-hospital cardiac arrest registry (KOHCAR) serves as the basis for a chain of survival monitoring and quality improvement programs for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA). This study describes the development history and current status of KOHCAR.

Methods/design: The KOHCAR, initiated in 2008, is a population-based OHCA registry that captures all emergency medical service (EMS)-assessed OHCA cases, regardless of etiology. The KOHCAR represents complete nationwide data and aligns with South Korea's comprehensive plan for cardiovascular disease, which has a legal basis. The KOHCAR is a collaboration between the National Fire Agency (NFA) and the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). The NFA identifies OHCA patients and provides prehospital information after integrating various EMS records, whereas the KDCA collects hospital information and clinical outcomes through a medical record review. Comprehensive Utstein variables, including patient and arrest characteristics, prehospital and hospital management, and survival outcomes, were collected.

Discussion: The KOHCAR has significantly contributed to improving OHCA survival rates in South Korea; however, the COVID-19 pandemic has posed challenge. To address the post-pandemic survival rate decline, there is a need to enhance data utilization, expand data sources, and tailor communication with diverse stakeholders.