The Sudden Cardiac Arrest Foundation is dedicated to bringing you the latest news and developments in sudden cardiac arrest prevention and treatment.

Commotio cordis is real and awareness can save lives, experts say

Coverage in Heart Rhythm Case Reports details a commotio cordis event experienced by an 18-year-old basketball player who went into cardiac arrest after being hit in the chest  PHILADELPHIA, PA -- A new case report appearing in Heart Rhythm Case Reports, an official journal of the Heart Rhythm Society published by Elsevier, details the commotio… Read More

SCA Foundation wins 2023 Top Rated Award from GreatNonprofits

Sudden Cardiac Arrest Foundation has won a 2023 Top-Rated Award from GreatNonprofits. We are proud of our accomplishments this year, including launch of the Cardiac Arrest Survivor Alliance, an online support community for Survivors, Co-Survivors, Lay Rescuers and Advocates. The Top-Rated Nonprofit award was based on the many positive reviews… Read More

Cedars-Sinai investigators move closer to predicting sudden cardiac arrest

Sudden cardiac arrest remains a deadly and complex condition, but investigators in the Smidt Heart Institute at Cedars-Sinai have discovered a new method—using a widely available cardiovascular test—for predicting the heart malfunction. “This is proof of a novel concept that while our current prediction methods measure a snapshot in time,… Read More

NCAA athletes’ sudden cardiac death rate fell over 20 years, still higher in some athletes

Research Highlights: While the overall incidence of sudden cardiac death among National Collegiate Athletic Association athletes decreased over a 20-year study period through 2022, the rates of sudden cardiac death remained highest among male athletes, Black athletes and basketball players. Sudden cardiac death events occurred most during… Read More

Novel online support community for survivors, loved ones, and others presented at AHA Resuscitation Science Symposium

A poster describing the Sudden Cardiac Arrest Foundation's program, the Cardiac Arrest Survivor AllianceTM, was presented Sunday at the American Heart Association's Resuscitation Science Symposium in Philadelphia. The related abstract, Initial Engagement in a Novel Online Support Community for Cardiac Arrest Survivors, Co-Survivors, Lay Rescuers,… Read More

Top 10 steps to improve in-hospital cardiac arrest outcomes and care identified

A scientific statement on behalf of the International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation Statement Highlights:  In-hospital cardiac arrest is a high-risk event among hospitalized patients of all ages worldwide and is associated with high rates of poor patient outcomes, including death.[1] Improving in-hospital cardiac arrest quality of care for… Read More

Survivors are at the heart of the Cardiac Arrest Survival Summit

Respond. Revive. SURVIVE. Survivors, co-survivors, family members, and rescuers will join educators and resuscitation providers to challenge the SCA survival status quo. Citizen CPR Foundation invites all sudden cardiac arrest survivors, rescuers, co-survivors, and family members to Challenge the Status Quo in SCA at this year's Cardiac Arrest… Read More

Would you be willing to bring your AED to someone nearby experiencing a cardiac arrest?

In 2020, the American Heart Association began recommending the use of mobile phone technology by emergency dispatch systems to summon willing bystanders to events nearby that might require CPR or AED use. The success of systems like PulsePoint in the United States, Heartrunner in Denmark, and GoodSam in the UK prompted this guideline revision.… Read More

Black, Hispanic cardiac arrest survivors often treated at hospitals with lower quality measures

Research Highlights: A study of almost 125,000 adults who survived cardiac arrest across the U.S. found that people from Black and Hispanic communities were more often than people from white communities to be treated at hospitals that did not perform well on patient outcomes such as survival to discharge and survival with favorable neurological… Read More

Could drones one day speed AED delivery to cardiac arrest scenes across the U.S.?

Research Highlights: Using a hypothetical model of first responders and a drone network to deliver automated external defibrillators (AEDs) in North Carolina, a study suggests drones delivering AEDs may one day ease inequities of emergency response times between urban and rural areas. The simulation found that delivering AEDs by drone improved… Read More