Out-of-hospital cardiac arrest: Concise review of strategies to improve outcome

Despite decades of research, cardiac arrest remains a major cause of morbidity and mortality, with frustratingly poor survival rates of approximately 10% to hospital discharge. Various strategies have been shown to improve survival, but differing degrees of implementation have led to a disparity in survival rates. These improvements, however, are balanced against the increasing age of patients presenting with out of hospital cardiac arrest and decreasing incidence of ventricular fibrillation, the rhythm with the best outcome. In this review, we will summarize the most up-to-date literature on key questions in the management pathway and recommend evidence based strategies to improve care.