b'A MESSAGE FROM CARES LEADERSHIPDrs. Bryan McNally and Michael CarrCELEBRATING 20 YEARS OF CARES: A LEGACY OF IMPACT & INNOVATIONDear CARES Community, As we celebrate the start of the third decade of the Cardiac Arrest Registry to Enhance Survival, we take a moment to reflect on the progress in improving out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) outcomes. Since our founding in 2004, CARES has matured into a national registry and quality improvement program, directly impacting survival rates and strengthening the Chain of Survival across the country. CARES has promoted data-driven emergency care, expanded our reach and enhanced our impact. The CAROL Act (2023-2027) has provided ongoing congressional appropriation for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) CARES Expansion and Modernization Grant. In alignment with the grant, we have made significant strides in four key areas:Nationwide ExpansionWe are actively working to onboard the remaining 13 states not yet participating as CARES States, aiming to achieve comprehensive OHCA data collection and quality improvement nationwide.Dedicated Improvement InitiativesWe have implemented targeted programs to enhance bystander intervention, increase AED accessibility, advance dispatcher-assisted CPR training and quality improvement, and promote community education. CARES PRIME (Program for Resuscitation Improvement, Modernization, and Expansion) will help to accelerate these efforts across the country.Next-Gen Platform Modernization Addressing Variability in OutcomesTableau-powered maps will provide advancedWe remain committed to improving visualization tools for tracking OHCA incidence, bystandersurvival rates in every community by CPR rates, bystander AED usage in public locations,directing resources where they are and overdose-related cardiac arrests. New reportingneeded most. Our goal is to ensure and benchmarking capabilities will enhance the usermore lives are savedno matter where 6 experience and facilitate improvement efforts.an OHCA occurs.'