Sudden Cardiac Arrest

The estimated U.S. incidence of sudden cardiac arrest is 166,200 per year, with a median survival to hospital discharge of only 6.4%. In this study by the American Heart Association (2008), the survival of patients with a witnessed arrest and a shockable rhythm who underwent defibrillation within 3 minutes after the event was 74%; in patients without a shockable rhythm, survival was only 5%. Only 20 to 38% of patients have a shockable first rhythm during sudden cardiac arrest.

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http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/short/358/17/1793