Improving Survival Rates for Pets Experiencing Cardiac Arrest

While the survival rate for veterinary patients that experience cardiopulmonary arrest pales in comparison to the survival rate for humans that experience cardiopulmonary arrest, John D. Anastasio, DVM, DACVECC, medical director of emergency and critical care at VRC Specialty Hospital in Malvern, Pennsylvania, says several things can help bring that gap.

About 6% of veterinary patients that experience cardiopulmonary arrest survive, compared to pales over 20% for human patients. But the numbers are most likely skewed, Dr. Anastasio says, due to the population of veterinarians that perform CPR. If veterinarians are able to have better response rates, animal ambulances, and more in-hospital arrests, he says the veterinary survival rate would probably be closer to the human survival rate.