European Resuscitation Council Guidelines 2021: Executive summary

Abstract: Informed by a series of systematic reviews, scoping reviews and evidence updates from the International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation, the 2021 European Resuscitation Council Guidelines present the most up to date evidence-based guidelines for the practice of resuscitation across Europe. The guidelines cover the epidemiology of cardiac arrest; the role that systems play in saving lives, adult basic life support, adult advanced life support, resuscitation in special circumstances, post resuscitation care, first aid, neonatal life support, paediatric life support, ethics and education.

Kids Save Lives – ERC position statement on school children education in CPR.

Sudden out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) with unsuccessful cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is the third leading cause of death in industrialised nations.1 After OHCA, the overall survival rates are 2–10%.2–4 In Europe and in the US together, 700,000 people die of OHCA every year. The same applies to other industrialised regions of the world. Many of these lives could be saved if more lay people provided immediate CPR.2 Emergency medical services (EMS) response times can be several (6–12) minutes or even longer.

Corrigendum to “European Resuscitation Council Guidelines 2021: Executive summary” [Resuscitation (2021) 1–60]