Cardiovascular disease affects over four million Australians and is the cause of one in four deaths nationally and approximately half of all deaths from cardiovascular disease are due to sudden cardiac arrest. Other non-cardiac causes of cardiac arrest include but are not limited to, pulmonary embolism, stroke, trauma, hypovolaemia and overdose. Sudden cardiac arrest is a leading cause of death in Australia with around 30,000 Australians experiencing a cardiac arrest each year. There is evidence that the number of cardiac arrests has significantly increased in the last ten years. Reported survival rates for both out-of-hospital and in-hospital cardiac rates are low at less than 10% and 25% respectively. Given the high prevalence of cardiovascular disease and increasing numbers of cardiac arrests this represents a significant health issue that affects many Australians and impacts the wider community.

Chest compressions are a core component of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and can be performed manually (by staff) or mechanically with a device. Mechanical devices have been widely used by paramedics since the early 2000s and in more recent years have been available to be used for patients experiencing a cardiac arrest in a hospital. Currently very little is known about how and why mechanical compression devices are used in hospital settings. To address this gap in knowledge this study proposes to investigate the use of mechanical chest compression devices at Royal Perth Hospital.

Since January 2020, a mechanical chest compression device called the LUCAS device has been available for use at Royal Perth Hospital. To gain an understanding of how and why the LUCAS device is being used in practice a mixed methods study will collect quantitative and qualitative data in two phases. Data from both phases will be drawn together to gain a more complete picture of LUCAS device use that can be used to inform practice, policy, and future research.