20
The CARES software includes functionality to automate data analysis for participating EMS agencies. 
The reports include 911 response intervals, delivery rates of critical interventions (i.e. bystander CPR, 
dispatcher CPR, public access defibrillation [PAD]), and community rates of survival using the Utstein 
template. An EMS agency has continuous access to their data and can generate reports by date range at 
their convenience. The software is also capable of aggregate reporting allowing CARES staff to generate 
custom reports for benchmarking and surveillance purposes. In addition, hospitals have access to 
facility-specific reports, allowing users to view pre-hospital and in-hospital characteristics of their patient 
population with benchmarking capability. A robust query feature also allows agencies and hospitals to 
create customized searches of their data. These search results can be easily exported to Microsoft Excel 
for further analysis.
Reporting Capability
The CARES quality assurance process is one of the strengths of the registry, as a number of measures are 
taken to ensure the integrity and accuracy of the data. These measures include standardized training of 
all CARES users, built-in software logic, an audit algorithm ensuring consistent data validation across the 
registry, and a bi-annual assessment of population coverage and case ascertainment. 
Data Validation
CARES Contributor Highlight:
Sanford Ambulance in Fargo, ND
On Saturday, February 14, paramedics and 
paramedic students from Sanford Ambulance 
in Fargo, North Dakota, hosted a community 
CPR training event at a local mall. Through their 
“Save a Life Saturday” initiative, participants 
learned how to perform hands-only CPR in just 
a few minutes, focusing on pushing hard and 
pushing fast, with the opportunity to practice 
on a manikin.
Led by paramedics Kristi Engelstad and Kathy 
Lonski since 2014, the program has trained 
more than 4,400 community members in 
hands-only CPR.

View this content as a flipbook by clicking here.