Of 32 ICU's, 19 completed the survey (59%), one was excluded as the hospital did not receive emergency admissions. The hospitals had a mean of 374 beds and the ICU's had a mean of 9.4 beds. Three hospitals had an invasive cardiology department.
Seventeen departments (94%) had introduced TH; the first department introduced it in 2002. The number of patients treated with TH ranged between "a few" and 250. Five (29%) departments began TH in the pre-hospital phase, seven in the emergency department (41%) and five in the ICU (29%).
Three departments (18%) offered TH only to patients with VF/VT as the initial rhythm. Thirteen departments (76%) offered TH regardless of presenting rhythm and one (6%) was unanswered. Sixteen had a SOP for TH (94%).
None of the departments has a structured follow-up procedure for these patients and only one department (6%) participated in a multicenter database on the use of TH.