Cardiac arrest is a time-critical emergency. Each year in the UK, ambulance services treat around 35,000 people who have had a cardiac arrest and are able to restart the person’s heart in about 30% of cases.

More people are surviving cardiac arrest, due to both medical advances and national efforts to improve our community response, such as making more defibrillators available and training people in CPR.

However, Hypoxic brain injury following cardiac arrest, due to decreased blood flow to the brain, is common and can range from mild impairment to devastating brain injury or death.

Tragically, even when paramedics are able to restart the heart, many patients will die on the intensive care unit due to a severe brain injury. Overall, fewer than 10% patients survive to leave hospital after a cardiac arrest.

New, more effective strategies are needed to minimize brain injury after resuscitation. More research is needed to understand complex mechanisms of brain injury following cardiac arrest, and to identify strategies to both prevent and treat brain injury.

The University of Warwick is world-leading in its research to improve the care of patients following cardiac arrest. We recently co-led an international scientific statement that sets out a pathway for better treatment and recovery for those facing brain injury after cardiac arrest.

Your donation will help this research continue, helping the University to identify and improve the care and treatment of patients following their cardiac arrest. Thank you.