Approximately how many people experience out-of-hospital cardiac arrest each year, and what is the typical survival outcome?

• A. About 350,000 occur outside the hospital each year, and about 90% die.
• B. About 1,000,000 occur outside the hospital each year, and 50% die.
• C. About 100,000 occur outside the hospital each year, and 10% die.
• D. About 50,000 occur outside the hospital each year, and 5% die.

Answer: (A)

Out-of-hospital cardiac arrest happens frequently, but survival is low. The best-supported estimate is about 350,000 people experience a cardiac arrest outside a hospital each year, and roughly 90% of them die. That means only about 10% survive to hospital discharge. This highlights how critical rapid bystander intervention and early defibrillation are, along with fast EMS response, for improving outcomes. The other option numbers don’t align with these commonly cited figures: they imply far fewer events or a far higher survival rate than what’s typically observed.