Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest — The Solution Is Shocking

• Published in: The New England journal of medicine Vol. 351; no. 7; pp. 632 - 634
• Main Author: Callans, David J
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Boston, MA Massachusetts Medical Society 12.08.2004
• Subjects: Advanced Cardiac Life Support; Biological and medical sciences; Cardiac arrest; Cardiac arrhythmia; Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation; Cardiovascular disease; CPR; Death, Sudden, Cardiac - etiology; Defibrillators; Electric Countershock; Emergency Medical Services; General aspects; Heart Arrest - mortality; Heart Arrest - therapy; Heart attacks; Humans; Medical sciences; Time Factors; Ventricular Fibrillation - complications; Ventricular Fibrillation - therapy; Volunteers; United States > US; Heart; Medicine; Out of hospital; Solution
• ISSN: 0028-4793; 1533-4406
• DOI: 10.1056/NEJMp048174

Sudden cardiac arrest claims 350,000 lives per year in the United States alone. Dr. David J. Callans explains how the prospects for resuscitation changed with the development of automated external defibrillators. Sudden cardiac arrest claims 350,000 to 450,000 lives per year in the United States alone and is responsible for more than half of all deaths that are due to cardiovascular disease. Our ability to recognize patients who are at high risk for cardiac arrest has improved, but 90 percent of cases of sudden death from cardiac causes occur in patients without identified risk factors. Although the majority of cases of sudden death from cardiac causes involve patients with preexisting coronary heart disease, cardiac arrest is the first manifestation of this underlying problem in 50 percent of patients. The sudden death . . .