Cardiopulmonary resuscitation in a teaching hospital. A survey of cardiac arrests occurring outside intensive care units and emergency rooms.

Seventy-eight cases of cardiac arrest occurring outside intensive care units and emergency rooms were analysed. 44% of patients were initially resuscitated, and 14% were still alive at 28 days. The previously well documented relationships between survival and location of arrest, age of patient and initial dysrhythmia were confirmed. A diurnal variation in the incidence of cardiac arrest has recently been postulated, but was not noted in this survey. However, the proportion of arrest patients who were initially resuscitated did show a significant fluctuation over the 24-hour period as tested by a sinusoidal logistic regression.