The outcomes of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) were poorer in the United States during the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic than before—even in counties with low case-fatality rates, according to a study published Nov 14 in JAMA Cardiology.Led by researchers at Saint Luke's Mid America Heart Institute in Kansas City, Missouri, the study compared rates of sustained return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC)—a measure of restored heart function—and survival until hospital release in the Cardiac Arrest Registry to Enhance Survival from Mar 16 to Apr 30 with those of the same period in 2019.Rates of ROSC for at least 20 minutes were 18% lower than before the pandemic, falling 11% to 15% even in communities with modest COVID-19 death