New research from the Cardiac Arrest Registry to Enhance Survival (CARES), soon to be presented at the Resuscitation Science Symposium (ReSS), shows just how critical quick action can be when a child experiences cardiac arrest. Analyzing more than 10,000 pediatric cases, researchers found that when a bystander starts CPR within the first five minutes, a child’s chance of survival nearly doubles compared to when CPR begins later. Every minute without CPR drastically reduces the likelihood of survival and recovery.
“We were not surprised that CPR initiated within five minutes of cardiac arrest improved survival odds in children,” lead author, Mohammad Abdel Jawad, M.D., M.S. said. “However, we were struck by how quickly the benefit dropped off after five minutes. In adults, a recent study reported survival benefits even when CPR was started at nine minutes; however, our analysis confirms that in children the time window was much shorter. This highlights just how critical every minute is after pediatric cardiac arrest.”
Read more here.
The Sudden Cardiac Arrest Foundation (SCAF) will be attending ReSS in New Orleans, Nov. 8-9 to engage with researchers and advocates about these findings and to continue championing CPR/AED education and public readiness—reminding us that anyone, anywhere, can make the difference between life and death for a child in crisis.