Surviving Cardiac Arrest

doi:10.1001/jama.300.12.1462

Surviving Cardiac Arrest

Location, Location, Location

Arthur B. Sanders, MD;
Karl B. Kern, MD

Author Affiliations: Departments of Emergency Medicine (Dr Sanders) and Internal Medicine (Dr Kern), Sarver Heart Center, University of Arizona, Tucson.

Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text.

KEYWORDS:

Out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) is a devastating syndrome that has a dismal prognosis in many communities.^1,2 However, the magnitude of the problem in the United States and Canada is such that even small improvements in survival translate into thousands of lives saved. Out-of-hospital cardiac arrest remains a major public health issue, prompting the American Heart Association to suggest that it be designated a reportable disease.³

Out-of-hospital cardiac arrest is primarily a systems problem of local communities. It is important that clinicians advocate in their communities to establish an optimal response and treatment system for patients to have a reasonable chance of resuscitation. Survival is generally a reflection of the emergency medical services (EMS) and acute care hospital systems implementing the “chain of survival,” including access to EMS, bystander cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) training, early defibrillation programs, early advanced life support, and optimal hospital postresuscitation care.⁴^{(pp19-34) …}

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