Strategies to Improve Survival From Cardiac Arrest: A Report From the Institute of Medicine

Maximizing survival and minimizing disability are fundamental goals of patient care, but a new Institute of Medicine (IOM) report released this month, “Strategies to Improve Cardiac Arrest Survival: A Time to Act,” suggests that the United States is falling short in efforts to improve outcomes from cardiac arrest during the next decade.¹

It is estimated that approximately 600 000 people each year in the United States experience a cardiac arrest,² and survival rates for arrests that occur in community settings are less than 6%.² Survival rates for in-hospital cardiac arrests are higher but remain low at 24%.³ Cardiac arrest predominantly affects older persons but can also occur among people of all ages, and significant disparities in incidence and survival rates exist for minority and disadvantaged populations.⁴ Survival rates vary between communities and hospitals, with one study finding survival rates for cardiac arrests from ventricular fibrillation ranging from 7.7% to 39.9% across 10 North American sites.⁵ Yet overall survival rates have remained fairly stagnant.