Executive Summary: PRESS ON Hands-Only CPR: A Community Education Project

Abstract

PRESS ON Hands-Only CPR: A Community Education Project

There were 139,822 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests (OHCA) captured in the 2023 Cardiac Arrest Registry to Enhance Survival (CARES) report, and sadly, only 10.2% of those people survived to hospital discharge. The CARES registry collects data from 37 states and 11 additional community-based sites, which represent approximately 56% of the United States population. Overall, approximately 350,000 OHCA cases occur annually in the United States (Blewer et al., 2024). Poor survival rates for OHCA can be attributed to several factors, including pre-existing health conditions, the time of first chest compressions, whether an automatic external defibrillator (AED) is used, emergency medical response times, and the availability of a receiving hospital to provide evidence-based care. There are opportunities to improve outcomes along the spectrum of care; however, the most important factors are the early activation of 911, the rapid initiation of chest compressions, and the use of an AED if available. Studies have shown that bystander CPR can double the odds of surviving OHCA (Cheng et al., 2020; Dainty et al., 2022). Currently, only 40% of adult victims of OHCA receive cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), and 29% had an AED applied before paramedics arrived (RACE CARS Trial, n.d.). Those rates are lower in rural areas, low-income neighborhoods, and minority populations (Ashburn et al.,2021; Pu et al., 2023). Despite extensive funding and education initiatives, the United States is still falling short of the Healthy People 2030 (Office of Disease Prevention and Promotion, n.d.) goal that 45.1% of all OHCA victims receive bystander CPR. We must continue to create opportunities to empower bystanders with the skills and confidence to act when cardiac arrest occurs, thereby improving this measure and its related outcomes.