Older Nursing Home Residents Have a Cardiac Arrest Survival Rate Similar to That of Older Persons Living in the Community

Abstract

We conclude that survival after cardiac arrest of older persons residing in nursing homes is low; however, with an appropriate CPR/DNR selection process and an effective emergency medical system, survival of certain groups of nursing home residents following cardiac arrest could be comparable to that of community residing older persons. Despite the reasonably good survival rates for older persons seen above, our analyses indicated that patients who have unwitnessed arrests are not likely to survive to discharge and that patients with initial rhythms such as asystole or electromechanical dissociation rarely survive. These data suggest that patients who have an unwitnessed arrest in the nursing home should not receive resuscitation attempts, and in those patients for whom paramedics are called, resuscitation efforts should not proceed any further if their original rhythm is asystole or electromechanical dissociation. Thus, modification in nursing home policies regarding CPR efforts is needed.