Link between cardiac arrests and COVID may help map the pandemic

A recent study finds a link between cardiac arrests and COVID-19, which could help to map the pandemic’s past and future.

Dr Kevin McVaney was attending a daily operational briefing last April when a lieutenant told him there were “a lot of cardiac arrests last night”. Another lieutenant chimed in and said they had seen a large number of cardiac arrests the night before. McVaney, the medical director of the Denver paramedics in Colorado, was concerned. He looked at that week’s numbers and found that cardiac arrests were double their normal rate.