[New developments in emergency resuscitation]

Cardiopulmonary resuscitation at present cannot, and in the future will not, constitute solely a uniform technique. Specific algorithms for sudden primary cardiac arrest have been developed which are to be further refined, and there is no reason why our country should lag behind the advanced nations in this respect. A key role in the outcome is played by other important factors such as instruction and training of the population enabling it to initiate basic life support, short time intervals from cardiac arrest to advanced life support, technical standard of the equipment available, expertise of medical emergency teams and physicians, prophylaxis of multiorgan dysfunction in the post-resuscitation period, and psychosomatic rehabilitation. All the above aspects make up a complex issue we have to do our best to tackle systematically and as soon as possible.