Impact of Lay-Administered CPR on Survival Rates

Sudden death accounts for between 20%-25% of all "new" coronary events. Until prevention is better understood, the best and most effective treatment is the rapid provision of resuscitative measures which "buy time" until definitive care can be provided. Factors positively associated with length of survival are: age, time from collapse to CPR; and time from collapse to CPR, combined with time to definitive care. Preliminary reports on the functional status of survivors are also promising. Canadians should readdress CPR as a vital factor influencing out-of-hospital cardiac arrest survival rates and necessitating administration by lay persons.