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Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest Registry 2024/2025
Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest Registry 2024/2025
24 February 2026
Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest Registry 2024/2025
Every year in Aotearoa New Zealand over 2,000 people are treated for a cardiac arrest that happens in the community. Cardiac arrest is the sudden loss of heart function, where the heart can’t effectively pump blood to vital organs. Without rapid intervention, cardiac arrest will always result in death. For every minute without CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) or defibrillation, a patient’s chance of survival falls by 10–15 percent. Every New Zealander can make a difference in the chain of survival.
The 2024/2025 Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest (OHCA) Registry has recently been published. This national report presents information on all OHCA events attended by Hato Hone St John (HHSJ) and Wellington Free Ambulance (WFA) between 1 July 2024 and 30 June 2025.
The purpose of the report is to identify survival rates of OHCA and benchmark internationally to help identify and address any possible improvements to clinical care. The report also benchmarks bystander CPR and the use of an AED prior to the arrival of an ambulance and patients’ survival to 30 days after the event.
You can read the national combined service report and a separate WFA report that focuses specifically on OHCA in the WFA region.
The impact of The Lloyd Morrison Foundation Heartbeat programme
The Lloyd Morrison Foundation Heartbeat programme has a significant impact on the impressive results for our region when we look at the rates of bystander CPR and AED use.
- Last year almost 10,000 people across the WFA region were taught lifesaving CPR skills and how to use an AED: early intervention from a bystander greatly influences a person’s chance of survival.
- 82% of witnessed cardiac arrests received bystander CPR (the highest in seven years), showcasing the power of community involvement in saving lives and the impact of The Lloyd Morrison Foundation Heartbeat CPR training programme.
- Our region has over 500 AEDs installed and maintained by WFA. Thanks to the ongoing generosity of Julie Nevett and The Lloyd Morrison Foundation, all Heartbeat CPR training is freely available, and all community AEDs are maintained free of charge.
- Regionally the research tells us that most people who experienced a cardiac arrest in our region (69%) experienced this at home. This means knowing how to do CPR and where the closest AED is to your home and neighbourhood is incredibly important.
In the Wellington Free Ambulance region – performance highlights
- Our paramedics reached patients in a median time of just 8 minutes in both urban and rural areas, ensuring timely and effective care when every second counts.
- WFA continues to shine on the global stage. The Utstein Comparator Group survival rate of 39% places WFA among the top-performing ambulance services worldwide, demonstrating our commitment to delivering exceptional care and improving outcomes for cardiac arrest patients.
- Wellington Free ranks second at 15% alongside Ambulance Victoria for survival outcomes to 30 days post cardiac arrest.