b'The survival rate from sudden cardiac arrest in many cities and towns across the UnitedStates has remained stagnant for decades. Yet some communities have found ways tosignificantly improve a patients chance of surviving cardiac arrestoften with simplechanges to 911 dispatch procedures or EMS training and protocols. The process ofcollecting and measuring data alone seems to make a significant difference in survivalrates.While many communities have discovered ways to increase survival rates, othersstruggle to know if theyre moving in the right direction. Show your commitment to saving lives from cardiac arrest by enrolling your communityin CARES today.W H A T I S C A R E S ?CARESthe Cardiac Arrest Registry to What a community canEnhance Survivalwas established by gain from measuringthe U.S. Centers for Disease Control and and truly understandingPrevention and Emory University to the quality of its cardiacimprove survival from cardiac arrest arrest care and cardiacthrough out-of-hospital cardiac arrest(OHCA) data collection in the United arrest patient outcomesStates. Communities that join CARES is invaluableand Icommit to entering cardiac arrest data think CARES is the bestfrom EMS agencies and hospitals into a way we can do that.national database in order to track their DOUGLAS KUPAS, MDperformance confidentially over time COMMONWEALTH EMS MEDICALand improve the quality of patient care DIRECTOR, PENNSYLVANIADEPARTMENT OF HEALTHand ultimately prevent needlessdeaths.By joining CARES, communities gain more than just access to informationthat will help them improve performance and save lives. They also contribute to one ofthe largest EMS registries in the world, and one of the few that also includes patientoutcome information from hospitals. Those features enable CARES data to be used toconduct vital research that furthers our knowledge of cardiac arrest treatment andsaves countless lives for years to come.'