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Cardiac arrest

Only a third of arrests get bystander CPR

Global Rate of Bystander Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation in Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
Heart, Lung & Circulation · 2026-10-06 · Added 8 October 2026

Systematic review and meta-analysis of 229 studies quantifying global bystander CPR rates in OHCA — just under a third of patients get bystander CPR, with arrests at home 28% less likely to receive it than public-location arrests.

Study type

Systematic review

Design

Systematic review and random-effects meta-analysis

Participants

229 studies, 4,421,570 OHCA patients across 45 countries

Main finding

Pooled bystander CPR prevalence was 32.1% (95% CI 29.7-34.5%), higher in high-income countries (34.9% vs 13.9%) and for paediatric arrests (49.2% vs 31.4%), with residential arrests 28% less likely to receive CPR than public ones (RR 0.72)

Caveat

Extreme heterogeneity (I² = 99.9%) — the pooled figure smooths over wildly different systems, registries and definitions

Bottom line

Context only

Learning goal

Understand the system and community factors that limit bystander CPR before ambulance arrival, especially for residential arrests.

More

• Topic: Cardiac arrest
• Daily scan: 8 October 2026

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