HeartStart HS1 First Aid Defibrillator

Just one weak link in the Chain of Survival can dramatically reduce the chance of survival — and survival with positive outcomes. Survival rates from cardiac arrest are low. Unacceptably low. On average, less than 10% survive. However, in some places, survival rates are almost 30%.

For decades, survival rates from cardiac arrest did not improve. Why? Because we did not learn what could be done to increase survival. Now we know. Some places are implementing changes based on this knowledge and they are seeing promising results. By helping to implement best practices and programs aimed at strengthening the Chain of Survival, we believe survival from cardiac arrest can be increased by as much as 50%.

It has been found that survival can be improved with each link in the Chain of Survival contributing a different amount. In the first few minutes after a cardiac arrest, caller-dispatcher teamwork can improve survival by a factor of 4. In the next hour, EMS performance of quality CPR can contribute by a factor of 3, and in the following days hospital post-resuscitation care can contribute by a factor of 2. In total, there is the opportunity to increase survival from cardiac arrest by 24-fold.

During the last decades, focus has been on the last two links in the chain — EMS and hospital care. However, we have learned that survival can be improved dramatically by acting earlier. Early identification of cardiac arrest and better implementation of bystander CPR with dispatcher-assistance results in the greatest impact on survival.