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Cardiac survival rates around 6 percent for those occurring outside of a hospital

Press releases may be edited for formatting or style | July 01, 2015
WASHINGTON - Cardiac arrest strikes almost 600,000 people each year, killing the vast majority of those individuals, says a new report from the Institute of Medicine. Every year in the U.S., approximately 395,000 cases of cardiac arrest occur outside of a hospital setting, in which less than 6 percent survive. Approximately 200,000 cardiac arrests occur each year in hospitals, and 24 percent of those patients survive. Estimates suggest that cardiac arrest is the third leading cause of death in the U.S. behind cancer and heart disease.

Following a cardiac arrest, each minute without treatment decreases the likelihood of surviving without disability, and survival rates depend greatly on where the cardiac arrest occurs, said the committee that carried out the study and wrote the report. In addition, there are wide variations in survival rates among communities and hospitals across the U.S. The committee recommended a series of strategies and actions to improve survival and quality of life following cardiac arrest.

"Cardiac arrest survival rates are unacceptably low," said Robert Graham, chair of the study committee and director of the national program office for Aligning Forces for Quality at George Washington University, Washington, D.C. "Although breakthroughs in understanding and treating cardiac arrest are promising, the ability to deliver timely interventions and high-quality care is inconsistent. Cardiac arrest treatment is a community issue, requiring a wide range of people to be prepared to act, including bystanders, family members, first responders, emergency medical personnel, and health care providers."

Although the terms are often used interchangeably, cardiac arrest is different and medically distinct from a heart attack. A heart attack occurs when blood flow to an area of the heart is blocked by a narrowed or completely obstructed coronary artery, resulting in damage of heart muscle. Heart attack symptoms may include pain, dizziness, and shortness of breath, among others. Cardiac arrest results from a disturbance in the electrical activity of the heart that causes it to stop beating. The electrical disturbance can occur suddenly due to a heart attack, severe imbalance of electrolytes, or an inherited genetic mutation that predisposes to electric abnormalities. Symptoms include an almost instantaneous loss of consciousness. The treatment goal for a cardiac arrest is to facilitate the return of circulation and restore the electric rhythm, while for a heart attack, it is to reopen blocked arteries and restore blood flow.

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