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Cardiac arrest

Long resuscitations don't rule out good recovery

Time to Return of Spontaneous Circulation and Long-Term Outcomes in Bystander-Witnessed Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest Survivors
Resuscitation · 2026-10 · Added 8 October 2026

Danish national registry study of bystander-witnessed OHCA survivors asking whether longer time-to-ROSC means worse long-term outcomes — anoxic brain damage rose with time, but long-term survival, return to work and nursing-home admission did not, showing prolonged resuscitation doesn't preclude good recovery.

Study type

Registry

Design

National registry cohort, stratified by time-to-ROSC

Participants

2,583 bystander-witnessed OHCA survivors (median age 65, median time-to-ROSC 14 min)

Main finding

Anoxic brain damage increased with time-to-ROSC (0.3%, 1.8% and 3.2% for 0-10, 11-18 and >18 min; adjusted HR 9.98 for >18 min vs 0-10 min), but 5-year survival (~79%), return to work (~60%) and nursing-home admission did not differ between groups

Caveat

Only patients surviving at least 30 days were included — early deaths are excluded, so this says nothing about whether longer efforts save more people overall

Bottom line

Supports current practice

Learning goal

Strengthen my judgement on when prolonged resuscitation efforts remain worthwhile before declaring futility in cardiac arrest.

More

• Topic: Cardiac arrest
• Daily scan: 8 October 2026
• Podcast: Paramedic Papers Daily, 8 October 2026

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