The ECG Challenge for this issue takes a diversion from the electrocardiogram to examine 2 important documents published simultaneously in October 2015. The first is the eagerly awaited 2015 American Heart Association Guidelines Update for Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation and Emergency Cardiovascular Care.1  The second is a brand new book-sized report from the Institute of Medicine (IOM) titled Strategies to Improve Cardiac Arrest Survival: A Time to Act.2  Both of these documents recommend that we take a bold new approach to the treatment of cardiac arrest in the United States.

According to the IOM report, sudden cardiac arrest is the third leading cause of death in the United States. The annual incidence (number of new cases in the United States per year) of cardiac arrest outside the hospital (OHCA) is 395 000 with 5.5% surviving to hospital discharge, and the incidence of cardiac arrest in hospitalized patients (IHCA) is...

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