Development of a Web GIS Application for Visualizing and Analyzing Community Out of Hospital Cardiac Arrest Patterns

Authors

  • Hugh Semple
  • Han Qin Department of Geography and Geology, Eastern Michigan University, Ypsilanti, MI
  • Comilla Sasson University of Colorado, Denver, CO

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5210/ojphi.v5i2.4587

Abstract

Improving survival rates at the neighborhood level is increasingly seen as priority for reducing overall rates of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) in the United States. Since wide disparities exist in OHCA rates at the neighborhood level, it is important for public health officials and residents to be able to quickly locate neighborhoods where people are at elevated risk for cardiac arrest and to target these areas for educational outreach and other mitigation strategies. This paper describes an OHCA web mapping application that was developed to provide users with interactive maps and data for them to quickly visualize and analyze the geographic pattern of cardiac arrest rates, bystander CPR rates, and survival rates at the neighborhood level in different U.S. cities. The data comes from the Cares Registry and is provided over a period spanning several years so users can visualize trends in neighborhood out-of-hospital cardiac arrest patterns. Users can also visualize areas that are statistical hot and cold spots for cardiac arrest and compare OHCA and bystander CPR rates in the hot and cold spots. Although not designed as a public participation GIS (PPGIS), this application seeks to provide a forum around which data and maps about local patterns of OHCA can be shared, analyzed and discussed with a view of empowering local communities to take action to address the high rates of OHCA in their vicinity.

Author Biographies

Hugh Semple

Professor, Department of Geography and Geology Eastern Michigan University Ypsilanti, MI

Han Qin, Department of Geography and Geology, Eastern Michigan University, Ypsilanti, MI

Graduate Student Department of Geography and Geology Eastern Michigan University Ypsilanti, MI

Comilla Sasson, University of Colorado, Denver, CO

Assistant Professor, MD, MS. Department of Emergency Medicine, University of Colorado, Denver.

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Published

2013-06-30

How to Cite

Semple, H., Qin, H., & Sasson, C. (2013). Development of a Web GIS Application for Visualizing and Analyzing Community Out of Hospital Cardiac Arrest Patterns. Online Journal of Public Health Informatics, 5(2). https://doi.org/10.5210/ojphi.v5i2.4587

Issue

Section

Original Articles