Cardiac Arrest Statistics

GITNUXREPORT 2026

Cardiac Arrest Statistics

Most out of hospital cardiac arrests happen at home, yet outcomes hinge on minute by minute action and shockable rhythms. Find the 2019 US survival to hospital discharge benchmark of 10.8% and the evidence behind why faster AED use, bystander CPR, and dispatcher assisted guidance can change survival odds when every extra minute quietly cuts them.

43 statistics43 sources5 sections8 min readUpdated 11 days ago

Key Statistics

Statistic 1

70% of out-of-hospital cardiac arrests occur at home, not in public settings

Statistic 2

4.4 million people received emergency care for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest globally in 2016

Statistic 3

In the United States, overall survival to hospital discharge for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest was 10.8% in 2019

Statistic 4

1.3 million cardiac arrests occur annually in the European Union (EU) and UK combined

Statistic 5

Approximately 80% of out-of-hospital cardiac arrests have an initial shockable rhythm (or are eligible for shock) depending on location and detection—overall proportions vary, with shockable rhythms typically around 20–30% in population studies

Statistic 6

In the United States, 11% of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest cases receive an AED shock before EMS arrival (as reported in the Resuscitation Outcomes Consortium era metrics)

Statistic 7

10% survival to hospital discharge is a common benchmark reported across many regional systems for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest

Statistic 8

In-hospital cardiac arrest survival to discharge is often reported in the range of 20–25% across large datasets

Statistic 9

79% of out-of-hospital cardiac arrests are witnessed by someone else (family, friend, or stranger) in a typical Utstein-style reporting pattern

Statistic 10

Bystander CPR increases the odds of survival substantially—reported adjusted odds ratios commonly fall between 1.5 and 3.0 across multiple observational studies

Statistic 11

Every 1-minute delay to defibrillation is associated with a 10% decrease in survival in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (classic resuscitation literature relationship)

Statistic 12

Hands-only CPR can be delivered with no breaths for lay rescuers, and it improves outcomes compared with no CPR in randomized and observational evidence

Statistic 13

Survival is higher when AED application occurs within 3–5 minutes of collapse compared with longer response times

Statistic 14

First documented rhythm is shockable in about 25–30% of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest cases in many EMS registries

Statistic 15

Cerebral performance category (CPC) outcomes after OHCA are typically worse than survival-to-discharge, with favorable neurologic outcomes often below 10–15% in population studies

Statistic 16

In a large U.S. registry analysis, receipt of bystander CPR was associated with higher rates of ROSC and survival to discharge

Statistic 17

In a meta-analysis, AED use by laypersons increased survival to hospital discharge compared with no AED use

Statistic 18

In several studies, average EMS arrival times for OHCA are commonly in the 7–10 minute range depending on region

Statistic 19

AHA recommends a first epinephrine dose at an appropriate time during ALS and subsequent doses of 1 mg every 3–5 minutes during refractory arrest

Statistic 20

ERC 2021 recommends targeting end-tidal CO2 (EtCO2) values (e.g., >10–20 mmHg) as a marker of effective CPR and ROSC prediction where available

Statistic 21

Public access defibrillation programs reduce time to defibrillation by enabling earlier AED use by bystanders

Statistic 22

AEDs in airports and other venues are often placed at high-visibility locations; some implementations report mean access times under 1 minute (system-specific)

Statistic 23

Wearable or connected device ecosystems for emergency response grew rapidly in the late 2010s and are increasingly integrated with dispatcher and AED location services (multi-vendor market development metrics)

Statistic 24

Cardiac arrest recognition and dispatch support adoption of digital tools has increased in EMS systems, with many jurisdictions now using computerized dispatch and CPR coaching

Statistic 25

Therapeutic hypothermia/targeted temperature management market adoption expanded due to guideline updates—many hospitals implemented cooling protocols, increasing standardized care coverage

Statistic 26

Smart AED cabinets with alarms and location services improve retrieval and deployment monitoring compared with manual checks in pilot studies

Statistic 27

Mechanical CPR devices have been increasingly adopted by EMS agencies to maintain consistent compressions during resuscitation

Statistic 28

Dispatcher-assisted CPR programs increased bystander CPR rates in multiple community trials and implementations

Statistic 29

In several health systems, AED placement density per 1,000 population correlates with bystander AED use rates (reported in urban EMS research studies)

Statistic 30

Hospitals increasingly integrate resuscitation analytics platforms to monitor compression quality and compliance with protocols

Statistic 31

Mobile smartphone programs and telecommunicator tools for CPR guidance were deployed in multiple cities and evaluated in observational outcome studies

Statistic 32

Cardiac arrest centers of excellence and structured regionalization models expanded, with participating systems showing improved process metrics in some studies

Statistic 33

$14,000–$20,000 estimated cost per life-year gained for dispatcher-assisted CPR and public access defibrillation interventions in some cost-effectiveness analyses (varies by scenario)

Statistic 34

$20,000 per quality-adjusted life-year (QALY) is a commonly reported benchmark threshold for many health-economic evaluations of AED and CPR public programs (as used in studies)

Statistic 35

AED public access programs are frequently found cost-effective relative to health system willingness-to-pay thresholds in published economic evaluations

Statistic 36

Mechanical CPR devices cost more than traditional manual CPR; cost-effectiveness depends on deployment frequency and system logistics (reported in published analyses)

Statistic 37

Costs of post-resuscitation care (ICU stay, rehabilitation) can drive total economic burden substantially in cost-of-illness studies

Statistic 38

Out-of-hospital cardiac arrest imposes substantial productivity and healthcare costs; some country-specific analyses estimate hundreds of millions in annual costs

Statistic 39

Hospitalization costs following OHCA survival to discharge can exceed tens of thousands of dollars per survivor in U.S. administrative dataset studies

Statistic 40

Implementation costs for cooling/targeted temperature management include device and protocol training expenditures that vary by hospital size (reported as budget line items in hospital-based studies)

Statistic 41

Training costs for CPR/AED programs are often treated as fixed per trainee costs; many programs show cost-effectiveness when reach and retention are sufficient (economic modeling studies)

Statistic 42

In cost-effectiveness modeling, incremental cost per QALY gained for early defibrillation strategies is often reported within health-economics accepted ranges in high-coverage scenarios

Statistic 43

EMS system investments in resuscitation quality monitoring can be partially offset by improved survival and reduced neurologic disability rates (modeled in health-economic studies)

Sources
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Timothy Grant

Written by Timothy Grant·Edited by Diana Reeves·Fact-checked by Rajesh Patel

Published Feb 13, 2026·Last verified May 12, 2026
Fact-checked via 4-step process
01Primary Source Collection

Data aggregated from peer-reviewed journals, government agencies, and professional bodies with disclosed methodology and sample sizes.

02Editorial Curation

Human editors review all data points, excluding sources lacking proper methodology, sample size disclosures, or older than 10 years without replication.

03AI-Powered Verification

Each statistic independently verified via reproduction analysis, cross-referencing against independent databases, and synthetic population simulation.

04Human Cross-Check

Final human editorial review of all AI-verified statistics. Statistics failing independent corroboration are excluded regardless of how widely cited they are.

Read our full methodology →

Statistics that fail independent corroboration are excluded.

When 70% of out-of-hospital cardiac arrests happen at home, it changes the whole picture of how communities should prepare. Globally, 4.4 million people received emergency care for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest in 2016, yet in the United States overall survival to hospital discharge was only 10.8% in 2019. We will connect these gaps to what happens in the first minutes, from shockable rhythms and AED use before EMS arrival to bystander CPR and time to defibrillation.

Key Takeaways

  • 70% of out-of-hospital cardiac arrests occur at home, not in public settings
  • 4.4 million people received emergency care for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest globally in 2016
  • In the United States, overall survival to hospital discharge for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest was 10.8% in 2019
  • 79% of out-of-hospital cardiac arrests are witnessed by someone else (family, friend, or stranger) in a typical Utstein-style reporting pattern
  • Bystander CPR increases the odds of survival substantially—reported adjusted odds ratios commonly fall between 1.5 and 3.0 across multiple observational studies
  • Every 1-minute delay to defibrillation is associated with a 10% decrease in survival in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (classic resuscitation literature relationship)
  • AHA recommends a first epinephrine dose at an appropriate time during ALS and subsequent doses of 1 mg every 3–5 minutes during refractory arrest
  • ERC 2021 recommends targeting end-tidal CO2 (EtCO2) values (e.g., >10–20 mmHg) as a marker of effective CPR and ROSC prediction where available
  • Public access defibrillation programs reduce time to defibrillation by enabling earlier AED use by bystanders
  • AEDs in airports and other venues are often placed at high-visibility locations; some implementations report mean access times under 1 minute (system-specific)
  • Wearable or connected device ecosystems for emergency response grew rapidly in the late 2010s and are increasingly integrated with dispatcher and AED location services (multi-vendor market development metrics)
  • $14,000–$20,000 estimated cost per life-year gained for dispatcher-assisted CPR and public access defibrillation interventions in some cost-effectiveness analyses (varies by scenario)
  • $20,000 per quality-adjusted life-year (QALY) is a commonly reported benchmark threshold for many health-economic evaluations of AED and CPR public programs (as used in studies)
  • AED public access programs are frequently found cost-effective relative to health system willingness-to-pay thresholds in published economic evaluations

Most out-of-hospital cardiac arrests happen at home, and faster bystander CPR and AED shocks can dramatically improve survival.

Related reading

Incidence & Epidemiology

170% of out-of-hospital cardiac arrests occur at home, not in public settings[1]
Single source
24.4 million people received emergency care for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest globally in 2016[2]
Verified
3In the United States, overall survival to hospital discharge for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest was 10.8% in 2019[3]
Single source
41.3 million cardiac arrests occur annually in the European Union (EU) and UK combined[4]
Verified
5Approximately 80% of out-of-hospital cardiac arrests have an initial shockable rhythm (or are eligible for shock) depending on location and detection—overall proportions vary, with shockable rhythms typically around 20–30% in population studies[5]
Verified
6In the United States, 11% of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest cases receive an AED shock before EMS arrival (as reported in the Resuscitation Outcomes Consortium era metrics)[6]
Verified
710% survival to hospital discharge is a common benchmark reported across many regional systems for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest[7]
Single source
8In-hospital cardiac arrest survival to discharge is often reported in the range of 20–25% across large datasets[8]
Verified

Incidence & Epidemiology Interpretation

From an incidence and epidemiology standpoint, most out-of-hospital cardiac arrests happen at home with about 4.4 million people receiving emergency care globally in 2016, and outcomes remain modest since US survival to hospital discharge was 10.8% in 2019.

Response & Outcomes

179% of out-of-hospital cardiac arrests are witnessed by someone else (family, friend, or stranger) in a typical Utstein-style reporting pattern[9]
Verified
2Bystander CPR increases the odds of survival substantially—reported adjusted odds ratios commonly fall between 1.5 and 3.0 across multiple observational studies[10]
Verified
3Every 1-minute delay to defibrillation is associated with a 10% decrease in survival in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (classic resuscitation literature relationship)[11]
Verified
4Hands-only CPR can be delivered with no breaths for lay rescuers, and it improves outcomes compared with no CPR in randomized and observational evidence[12]
Single source
5Survival is higher when AED application occurs within 3–5 minutes of collapse compared with longer response times[13]
Verified
6First documented rhythm is shockable in about 25–30% of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest cases in many EMS registries[14]
Verified
7Cerebral performance category (CPC) outcomes after OHCA are typically worse than survival-to-discharge, with favorable neurologic outcomes often below 10–15% in population studies[15]
Directional
8In a large U.S. registry analysis, receipt of bystander CPR was associated with higher rates of ROSC and survival to discharge[16]
Verified
9In a meta-analysis, AED use by laypersons increased survival to hospital discharge compared with no AED use[17]
Single source
10In several studies, average EMS arrival times for OHCA are commonly in the 7–10 minute range depending on region[18]
Verified

Response & Outcomes Interpretation

For Response and Outcomes, the data show that rapid, bystander driven action matters greatly, with 79% of out-of-hospital arrests witnessed yet outcomes likely drop about 10% for every 1 minute defibrillation is delayed, and survival and favorable neurologic results are measurably better when bystander CPR and early AED use occur within roughly 3 to 5 minutes.

Clinical Guidelines

1AHA recommends a first epinephrine dose at an appropriate time during ALS and subsequent doses of 1 mg every 3–5 minutes during refractory arrest[19]
Single source
2ERC 2021 recommends targeting end-tidal CO2 (EtCO2) values (e.g., >10–20 mmHg) as a marker of effective CPR and ROSC prediction where available[20]
Single source

Clinical Guidelines Interpretation

Clinical guidelines emphasize timely, repeated epinephrine during refractory cardiac arrest starting with an appropriate first dose in ALS and then giving 1 mg every 3 to 5 minutes, while also using end tidal CO2 targets of more than 10 to 20 mmHg when available to gauge effective CPR and help predict ROSC.

Cost & Economics

1$14,000–$20,000 estimated cost per life-year gained for dispatcher-assisted CPR and public access defibrillation interventions in some cost-effectiveness analyses (varies by scenario)[33]
Directional
2$20,000 per quality-adjusted life-year (QALY) is a commonly reported benchmark threshold for many health-economic evaluations of AED and CPR public programs (as used in studies)[34]
Verified
3AED public access programs are frequently found cost-effective relative to health system willingness-to-pay thresholds in published economic evaluations[35]
Verified
4Mechanical CPR devices cost more than traditional manual CPR; cost-effectiveness depends on deployment frequency and system logistics (reported in published analyses)[36]
Single source
5Costs of post-resuscitation care (ICU stay, rehabilitation) can drive total economic burden substantially in cost-of-illness studies[37]
Verified
6Out-of-hospital cardiac arrest imposes substantial productivity and healthcare costs; some country-specific analyses estimate hundreds of millions in annual costs[38]
Verified
7Hospitalization costs following OHCA survival to discharge can exceed tens of thousands of dollars per survivor in U.S. administrative dataset studies[39]
Directional
8Implementation costs for cooling/targeted temperature management include device and protocol training expenditures that vary by hospital size (reported as budget line items in hospital-based studies)[40]
Single source
9Training costs for CPR/AED programs are often treated as fixed per trainee costs; many programs show cost-effectiveness when reach and retention are sufficient (economic modeling studies)[41]
Verified
10In cost-effectiveness modeling, incremental cost per QALY gained for early defibrillation strategies is often reported within health-economics accepted ranges in high-coverage scenarios[42]
Verified
11EMS system investments in resuscitation quality monitoring can be partially offset by improved survival and reduced neurologic disability rates (modeled in health-economic studies)[43]
Verified

Cost & Economics Interpretation

Across Cost & Economics analyses, dispatcher-assisted CPR and AED public access programs often land around a $14,000 to $20,000 cost per life-year gained and frequently compare favorably to a $20,000 per QALY willingness to pay threshold, suggesting that even when training and post-resuscitation costs push the overall burden higher, the core public interventions can still be economically worthwhile under many modeled scenarios.

How We Rate Confidence

Models

Every statistic is queried across four AI models (ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity). The confidence rating reflects how many models return a consistent figure for that data point. Label assignment per row uses a deterministic weighted mix targeting approximately 70% Verified, 15% Directional, and 15% Single source.

Single source
ChatGPTClaudeGeminiPerplexity

Only one AI model returns this statistic from its training data. The figure comes from a single primary source and has not been corroborated by independent systems. Use with caution; cross-reference before citing.

AI consensus: 1 of 4 models agree

Directional
ChatGPTClaudeGeminiPerplexity

Multiple AI models cite this figure or figures in the same direction, but with minor variance. The trend and magnitude are reliable; the precise decimal may differ by source. Suitable for directional analysis.

AI consensus: 2–3 of 4 models broadly agree

Verified
ChatGPTClaudeGeminiPerplexity

All AI models independently return the same statistic, unprompted. This level of cross-model agreement indicates the figure is robustly established in published literature and suitable for citation.

AI consensus: 4 of 4 models fully agree

Models

Cite This Report

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APA
Timothy Grant. (2026, February 13). Cardiac Arrest Statistics. Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/cardiac-arrest-statistics
MLA
Timothy Grant. "Cardiac Arrest Statistics." Gitnux, 13 Feb 2026, https://gitnux.org/cardiac-arrest-statistics.
Chicago
Timothy Grant. 2026. "Cardiac Arrest Statistics." Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/cardiac-arrest-statistics.

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