The Institute of Medicine released a report today titled "Strategies to improve cardiac arrest survival: a time to act."

The report examines current statistics and survival rates of cardiac arrest in the U.S., assesses evidence on existing lifesaving therapies, and recommends public health strategies that could improve survival rates- including training the public in how to perform CPR. Bystander CPR can double a person's chance of survival if they have a heart attack outside the hospital.

“Because cardiac arrest can happen anywhere- at work, on the street, at a store or at home, increasing the number of people who know how to perform CPR is where the greatest increases in survival for cardiac arrest will come from,” says Dr. Marina Del Rios, one of the authors of the report and assistant professor of emergency medicine in the UIC College of Medicine. Yet, less than 3 percent of the U.S public receives annual CPR training.

Del Rios is also community outreach coordinator for Illinois Heart Rescue http://illinoisheartrescue.com - a statewide volunteer effort comprised of EMS professionals, physicians, nurses, community groups, hospitals and governmental agencies working together to double survival rates for out-of-hospital sudden cardiac arrest.

Since the program launched two years ago, it has trained thousands of Illinoisans in CPR and the use of AEDs, and in that time survival rates for out-of-hospital sudden cardiac arrest have increased from 4 percent to 8 percent in Illinois. They train in schools, churches, and even at Chicago Cubs and Fire games.