SCA News

Risk Models for Sudden Cardiac Death in Cardiomyopathies: Clinical, Methodological and Ethical Challenges

This paper reviews how doctors try to predict sudden cardiac death in people with cardiomyopathies, which are diseases of the heart muscle that make it thicker, weaker, or more prone to dangerous rhythms. Many of these conditions run in families. While sudden cardiac death is relatively uncommon, an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) can… Read More

Dynamic Risk Trajectories for Sudden Cardiac Arrest: The Role of Recurrent Cardiovascular Events

This study looked at whether a person’s risk of sudden cardiac arrest changes over time as they experience repeated heart problems. The researchers followed people who had survived a first major heart event, either an acute coronary syndrome (a sudden drop in blood flow to the heart, a category that includes heart attacks) or heart failure (when… Read More

Combined Associations of Alcohol Consumption Frequency and Healthy Lifestyle With Risk of Sudden Cardiac Arrest

A study from South Korea investigated how a person’s drinking habits and their overall lifestyle work together to affect the risk of sudden cardiac arrest. Drawing on a multi-hospital research project in South Korea called CAPTURES (Cardiac Arrest Pursuit Trial with Unique Registration and Epidemiologic Surveillance), the researchers compared 961… Read More

Meteorological and Environmental Factors Associated With Sudden Cardiac Arrest During Marathons in Japan

Researchers in Japan set out to learn whether the weather on race day is connected to a runner’s chance of suffering a sudden cardiac arrest, a life-threatening emergency in which the heart abruptly stops pumping blood. To do this, they studied roughly 4.53 million people who ran in marathons across the country over about nine years (from April… Read More

SCAF Joins SCA Community for 6th Annual CPR + AED Awareness Rally & March in Washington, D.C.

The Sudden Cardiac Arrest Foundation was proud to participate in the 6th Annual CPR & AED Awareness Rally & March in Washington, D.C., held July 23–25, 2026. The inspiring event brought together sudden cardiac arrest survivors, families, advocates, healthcare professionals, and leaders from across the country to raise awareness about the… Read More

Advancing Readiness Through Partnership

Preparedness is the foundation of every lifesaving response. Sudden cardiac arrest can happen anywhere, at any time — including during mass casualty incidents, accidents, disasters, and other emergencies where first responders and healthcare teams are called upon to make rapid decisions and provide lifesaving care. In these moments, outcomes… Read More

Characterizing stressors, coping strategies, and intervention preferences related to brain health among cardiac arrest survivors and their family caregivers

This study explored the brain health-related stressors, coping strategies, and support needs of cardiac arrest survivors and their caregivers, while also gathering feedback on a proposed brain health lifestyle intervention for this community. Researchers conducted focus groups and interviews with survivor-caregiver pairs recruited in part through… Read More

Implementation of cardiac emergency response plan in primary and secondary schools in Hong Kong: A cross-sectional survey of local physical education teachers

This study of 122 physical education teachers in Hong Kong examined how well cardiac emergency response plans (CERPs) are implemented in primary and secondary schools. The study found that most schools have key structural components in place—such as AEDs (91.8%), communication systems (87.6%), and trained staff (84.4%). CPR training among… Read More

Disparities in Pediatric Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest Outcomes Relating to Race, Urbanicity, and Poverty: A Study of the NEMSIS Database

A nationwide study of nearly 15,000 pediatric out-of-hospital cardiac arrests used data from the National Emergency Medical Services Information System (NEMSIS) Database (2021–2023) to examine whether race, geography, and community poverty levels influence early lifesaving care before emergency responders arrive. The study measured whether… Read More

Paramedic-assessed quality of bystander CPR is associated with survival in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest

A study of more than 17,700 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests in Australia reinforces the lifesaving impact of bystander CPR. People who received CPR before emergency responders arrived were more likely to survive than those who did not, highlighting the critical role that bystanders play during a cardiac emergency. The researchers also found that… Read More