Cardiac Resuscitation in the Community

• Several time-related variables involving resuscitation from out-of-hospi­ tal cardiac arrest were studied. Short time intervals from collapse to Initiation of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and to provision of defini­ tive care were significantly associated with survival from cardiac arrest. The 'two times were j;.)intly related, and one short time without the other was unlikely to res~.", in survival. If CPR was initiated within four minutes and if p;'.definitj'J'e Cl!"--' was provided within eight minutes, 43% of patients survived. If ~itr,,;r ti,iT"'" was exceeded, the chances of survival fell dram.=>~!~ally. The "ti~e t~initiat;on of CPR and definitive care are factors'di{",c~iYim~w(;aced by emergency medical service program decisions. A realistic option to improve time to initiation of CPR is widespread citizen CPR training. A possible option to improve the time to definitive care is the training of emergency medical technicians in defibrillation. (JAMA 241:1905-1907, 1979)