Maine Cardiac Arrest Survival Project

Three tertiary care hospitals anchor the Maine Cardiac Arrest Survival Project. Maine Medical Center (MMC) in the south, Eastern Maine Medical Center (EMMC) towards the north, and Central Maine Medical Center (CMMC) in the west have combined resources to develop uniform protocols for therapeutic hypothermia and post arrest care of survivors. At the time of this writing, MMC has cooled about 200 patients, and EMMC has successfully cooled about 90 patients since the inception of their programs. For initial rhythms of ventricular fibrillation and ventricular tachycardia, EMMC has 62% discharge home rate. Even taking all initial rhythms, the discharge home rate is over 50%.

MCASP invites other hospitals to apply for an appropriate designation level. Details will be forthcoming in the next few months.