According to new research from UT Southwestern Medical Center, survival rates from sudden cardiac arrest dropped significantly during the COVID-19 pandemic and have not returned to pre-pandemic levels. The study analyzed more than 600,000 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests from 2015 to 2022, finding that promising progress made before the pandemic was disrupted in 2020 and stalled in the years that followed.
Even more concerning, the study highlights that not all communities were affected equally. Majority Black and Hispanic neighborhoods experienced the steepest declines in survival—more than 16%—compared to smaller drops in predominantly white areas. This underscores ongoing disparities in access to emergency care, bystander intervention, and overall outcomes.
Researchers point to several likely factors, including longer EMS response times, reduced public willingness to perform CPR, and increases in drug-related cardiac arrests. The findings are a powerful reminder of the critical need to invest in community preparedness, CPR training, and emergency response systems.
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SOURCE: UT Southwestern Medical Center