What is the role of general practice in the Chain of Survival for treating people with cardiac arrest?

Patient survival is more likely when general practitioners and their staff are trained in resuscitation and equipped with defibrillators

With increasing appreciation of the importance of post‐resuscitation care and long term patient outcomes, the Chain of Survival for patients with cardiac arrest has evolved.1 However, the first three links have not changed: early recognition and an emergency call for medical help; early cardiopulmonary resuscitation; and early defibrillation. If these steps are not immediately and sequentially activated, further links in the Chain of Survival have little or no impact on survival. The study by Haskins and colleagues2 reported in this issue of the MJA re‐affirms the importance of these three links, and provides direction on how they can be further strengthened in community general practice.