Cardiac arrest survival rate rise

The number of people surviving cardiac arrests outside hospital has more than trebled in the last five years.

Just under one in six people who had a cardiac arrest witnessed by another person survived during 2006/07.

This compares with a survival rate of one in 10 during the previous year, according to the London Ambulance Service (LAS) report.

The study also found ambulance staff responded to cardiac arrest call-outs a minute faster than last year.

LAS REPORT FINDINGS The average age of a cardiac arrest patient was 67 About two-thirds of cardiac arrests in London occurred in the home Of those that occurred in public, over a third took place in the street Cardiac arrests occurred most frequently on a Saturday

When a cardiac arrest occurs a person's heart stops beating, they lose consciousness, stop breathing and have no signs of circulation.

Medical director Dr Fionna Moore said: "Every second is vital when someone collapses and stops breathing, and to have seen such tremendous improvements in these survival rates is a great achievement.

"There is no greater satisfaction for our staff than to know that they have helped save someone's life."