Cardiac Resuscitation

Abstract

Since the chief attribute of external cardiac massage is its potential success under disadvantageous circumstances, this study is concerned with the factors which diminish the chance of success within the hospital proper. Thirty-six patients were successfully resuscitated for longer than 1 hour, 13 of these survived 24 hr., and 5 were discharged from the hospital alive. The chance of surviving a cardiac arrest is distinctly less for a patient with serious underlying illness than for patients with unexpected cardiac arrest who were well and in no apparent jeopardy for a mortal illness. The immediate application of external cardiac massage and effective ventilation had the most important influence on survival rate. Survival may be improved by closer patient observation.