A two-year study on cardiac arrest outcomes in the United States has been launched by the Institute of Medicine, the health arm of the National Academy of Sciences, with the participation and sponsorship of the American Red Cross, the American Heart Association, the American College of Cardiology, and the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Dr. David Markenson, Chair of the American Red Cross Scientific Advisory Council, is a member of the IOM study committee. It will review current cardiac arrest therapies, in use by members of the public, EMS responders, and other health care professionals; systems of care; evidence from U.S. and foreign cardiac outcome databases; and promising new therapies and strategies to improve survivability.

The committee will meet regularly throughout the two years and will offer two public workshops inviting input from practitioners, nonprofit organizations, and others. A public workshop will be held in August in Washington, D.C.

The committee's recommendations will be made available to the Red Cross and to the public in early summer 2015.

The study recommendations may impact Red Cross training. Any changes made to programs will be highlighted in the Instructor's Corner.