Improving cardiac arrest survival by providing high quality, co-ordinated care: 2010 International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation guidelines

Cardiac arrest is an important public health concern, affecting millions of people each year throughout the world. In the last 15 years, more emphasis has been placed on creating consensus guidelines for how cardiac arrest patients should be treated. In the most recent update to these international guidelines, released in October 2010, major advances in the treatment of cardiac arrest patients are highlighted in four major areas: creation of resuscitation centers to provide regionalized, co-ordinated care; implementation of postarrest management protocols; induction of therapeutic hypothermia for patients with return of spontaneous circulation; and implementation of early angiography for cardiac arrest survivors. This article will highlight the rationale, evidence base and major research gaps for each of these recommendations.