480 preclinical cardiopulmonary resuscitations performed at the Emergency Center of the Federal Military Hospital in Hamburg were analysed. The late success was 7.9%, i.e., 38 patients were released after initially successful resuscitation and subsequent clinical treatment. Prognostic parameters indicating late success were deduced from the data. The age of the patients, call times, and organisational course do not influence the survival rate. For this reason resuscitation should be attempted in every patient, even in those with longer transport times, and if resuscitation proves unsuccessful, the measures should be discontinued at the site. Patients with multiple injuries or craniocerebral trauma, who require resuscitation, and patients with asystole, who are older than 70 years of age, do not survive. Even in young patients, the prognosis for asystole is extremely poor. Although the prognosis for patients with ventricular fibrillation is better, we are of the opinion that the success rate of preclinical cardiopulmonary resuscitations can be improved by systematic use of antiarrhythmics; metaproterenol sulfate should no longer be administered. The prognosis of resuscitated patients with contracted pupils and gasping breath and of patients with severe tachycardia is relatively good. Cardiac arrest after drowning carries best prognosis: 4 of 7 patients survived.
