Comparing characteristics and outcomes of in-hospital cardiac arrest during the early and late COVID-19 pandemic at an academic institution in Saudi Arabia

The COVID-19 pandemic has introduced major changes in the resuscitation practices of cardiac arrest victims. We aimed to compare the characteristics and outcomes of patients who sustained in-hospital cardiac arrest (IHCA) during the early COVID-19 pandemic period (2020) with those during the late COVID-19 pandemic period (2021). This was a retrospective review of adult patients sustaining IHCA at a single academic centre. We compared characteristics and outcomes of IHCA for 5 months in 2020 with those experiencing IHCA for 5 months in 2021. Patients sustaining IHCA during the early COVID-19 pandemic period had higher rates of delayed epinephrine administration of more than 5 min (13.4% vs. 1.9%; p