CARES Definition:

CARES defines a First Responder as personnel who respond to a medical emergency in an official capacity as part of an organized medical response team but are not responsible for transporting the patient to the hospital. These responders might perform CPR, apply an AED, or defibrillate as part of a cardiac arrest 911 response with your agency. First Responder should be documented anytime another agency is providing care in an OHCA.

If no First Responder is sent in the incident, the “No First Responder Dispatched” checkbox will be automatically checked on import to CARES by default. This indicates that no other agencies were involved in the OHCA care.

Important Note: If the crew documents that a First Responder was first to provide care in eArrest.20, eArrest.21, or eArrest.22, the CARES Required Element schematron rules will expect a First Responder to be documented in the incident, and if one is not documented, will produce an error.

Quick Reference Guide (QRG) for field providers:

Key Message for EMS:

Documentation of the other agencies involved in a cardiac arrest response is critical to understanding outcomes and improving survival.

Instructions:

1. If another agency/unit was at the scene:

✅ Add them in the “Other Agencies at Scene” section of the ePCR.

2. If they were first to provide care:

✅ Document “YES” for “First to Provide Care” for the agency that was first to provide care.

Remember:

• Always document other agencies present at the scene
• Accurately indicate which agency was first to provide care

Technical Aspects:

Technically speaking, a CARES first responder is documented in the standard NEMSIS elements for ‘Other EMS or Public Safety Agencies at Scene’ (eScene.03) and ‘First Other EMS or Public Safety Agency at Scene to Provide Patient Care’ (eScene.24). In order to import a CARES First Responder, you must send eScene.03 AND eScene.24 must equal ‘Yes’ (NEMSIS code 9923003) in the same eScene.ResponderGroup. Below is an example of how the XML should be sent: