The Resuscitation Outcomes Consortium (ROC) was created to study which treatments help people with cardiac arrest or severe injury. The ROC consists of regional sites across the US and Canada and study coordinating centers. The ROC investigators are physicians that work with fire rescue and Emergency Medical Service (EMS) systems and hospitals to do studies aimed at understanding what treatments are helpful when given during the early course of care. Treatments studied include promising resuscitation drugs, tools, techniques, and therapies.
The ROC investigators do studies in which people who qualify receive either the currently accepted treatment or an alternative treatment that scientific data suggests may be of equal or greater benefit. The treatment given is assigned by chance (like tossing a coin). ROC studies are designed to evaluate current practices and compare treatment options so that EMS, emergency department, and hospital providers can determine those treatments most likely to benefit the public.
Please see the brochure below for more information about the Resuscitation Outcomes Consortium. You can also find out more here on Wikipedia.