New Stark statistics on cardiac arrest in the UK reveal that in 2022, only around 8 per cent of patients would survive 30 days after cardiac arrest. This is a decrease from the previous year.

In the UK, ambulances resuscitated around 35,000 patients who suffered cardiac arrest outside of hospital, with a quarter of the patients having their hearts restarted by the time they reached hospital. Two-thirds of cardiac arrests occurred in men, and approximately 80 percent occurred in the patient’s usual place of residence.

high quality data

Members of the public performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) in more than 70% of cases, but fewer than 10% used defibrillators that were available in public places. Both numbers show his increase from 2021.

The findings were published by the Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest Outcomes (OHCAO) Registry, based at the University of Warwick Clinical Trials Unit, using data submitted by all regional ambulance services in the UK. The aim is to collect and summarize high quality data to support the UK’s efforts to improve outcomes from out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. The OHCAO Registry is funded by us and the Resuscitation Council UK (RCUK).

missed opportunity

Dr Christopher Smith, Clinical Lecturer at Warwick Medical School and Co-Principal Investigator of the OHCAO Registry, said: Survive and leave the hospital.

“Cardiac arrest is one of the most serious and urgent medical emergencies, but there is much that can be done to improve patient outcomes. In particular, community-based interventions need to be better tailored and implemented. Such efforts will require a high level of understanding of the scale of the problem and how researchers and clinicians can identify areas to target interventions that will have the greatest impact. We need quality data. The OHCAO Registry will provide and share this data with the aim of saving more lives in the future.”

“Every second matters”

Judy O’Sullivan, our Health Innovation Program Director, said: Prompt CPR and defibrillation can be the difference between life and death. These figures reveal that survival rates after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest are alarmingly low, indicating that too many opportunities to save lives are missed. This needs to change.

“It’s important to perform CPR and use a defibrillator with confidence. Our free, interactive RevivR training tool simplifies the life-saving skills of CPR and how to use a defibrillator. It can be taught in 15 minutes and could ultimately help save the life of a loved one.”

“Save more lives”

James Cant, Chief Executive of the British Resuscitation Council, added: “Improving patient outcomes with OHCAO is a key priority for the British Resuscitation Council.” We want to save more lives and reduce the devastating impact of cardiac arrest on patients and their families. This report sheds important light on trends in survival rates, CPR, and defibrillators, allowing you to apply a data-driven approach to your efforts to save more lives.

We must now focus our efforts on addressing the disparities revealed in the data, increasing awareness of CPR, and advocating for greater public access to defibrillators. ”

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