In-hospital cardiac arrest and basic life support

Survival of in -hospital cardiac arrests is still as low as 15-35%. Healthcare workers should closely monitor patients' vital signs, notice any deterioration, and initiate the necessary actions to prevent cardiac arrest. The introduction of early warning sign protocols (including the monitoring of respiratory rate, oxygen saturation, pulse, blood pressure, consciousness, etc.) can improve the recognition of periarrest patients during hospital stay. However, when a cardiac arrest occurs, healthcare workers should also be able to work in team and follow the relevant protocols delivering good quality chest compressions and early defibrillation. To achieve this goal, regular trainings, appropriate infra- structure and system-wide teamwork are needed. In this paper, we discuss the challenges of the first phase of in hospital resuscitation and its integration into the hospital -wide medical emergency response system.