Cardiac Arrest Registry to Enhance Survival

What Cardiac Arrest Registry to Enhance Survival does

CARES (Cardiac Arrest Registry to Enhance Survival) is a national out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) registry program established in 2004 and hosted at Emory University's Rollins School of Public Health in Atlanta. It operates as the only national data collection tool in the United States that links pre-hospital EMS records with hospital outcome data, creating a unified record for each cardiac arrest event from 911 call through hospital discharge. The program serves EMS agencies, hospitals, state health departments, 911 dispatch centers, and academic researchers, with documented reach covering 186+ million people across participating communities and over 1.3 million cumulative cardiac arrest cases tracked since inception, including 137,000+ non-traumatic OHCA cases recorded in 2024 alone.

The core product is the myCares™ platform — a HIPAA-compliant, web-based software system that supports XML-based data submission, real-time reporting dashboards, and benchmarking against local, state, and national data. The platform is modular, with specialized add-ons for dispatcher-assisted CPR, drowning incidents, and targeted temperature management, and it integrates with ePCR (electronic Patient Care Reporting) systems used by EMS agencies. Annual reports, a CARES in Action resource library, and state-level case studies round out the analytical and educational product surface.

Revenue is a hybrid of public-health grant funding, recurring participant subscriptions, and data-access fees. The program was awarded a $23.85 million CDC grant in October 2023 (over five years) for expansion and modernization, supplemented by an $899,215 Helmsley Charitable Trust grant (2023) for rural Midwestern expansion and a historical $750,000 HRSA grant (2019). EMS agency and hospital participation is structured as tiered annual subscriptions, while researchers pay usage-based fees for access to the CARES National Dataset. Distribution is direct, via website enrollment and state coordinator networks, supported by strategic partnerships with the CDC, the American Heart Association, NASEMSO, The Joint Commission, and the Resuscitation Academy.

Name

Cardiac Arrest Registry to Enhance Survival

Legal name

Cardiac Arrest Registry to Enhance Survival (CARES)

Website

https://mycares.net

Company type

Private

Founded year

2004

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

CARES is a national out-of-hospital cardiac arrest registry hosted at Emory University that links EMS and hospital data for over 186 million people across participating U.S. communities, serving EMS agencies, hospitals, state health departments, and researchers.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Healthcare Data Registry

SIC

Services-Health Services (8000), Services-Computer Programming, Data Processing, Etc. (7370)

akta.pro primary industry

Care Management & Coordination Platforms (case/disease management workflows) (HLACAHAD)

Keywords

• Cardiac arrest registry
• Out-of-hospital cardiac arrest
• EMS data analytics
• Public health surveillance
• Emergency medical services

Headquarters

HQ city

Atlanta

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Subscription Fees: EMS agencies and hospitals pay subscription fees to participate in CARES. The program offers a subscription model fact sheet with fee summaries available for agencies.
2. Federal Grants: Primary funding from CDC grant of $23.85 million over five years (awarded October 2023) supporting expansion and modernization of the national registry.
3. Data Sharing Fees: National Dataset Fees charged for researchers and organizations requesting access to the CARES national dataset for analysis.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

CARES operates a HIPAA-compliant, web-based national registry (myCares™) that links EMS agency data with hospital outcome data to create a single record for each out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) event. The platform enables participating communities to collect standardized cardiac arrest data, generate real-time reports and benchmarks, and track performance against national metrics. It is supplemented by specialized modules for dispatcher-assisted CPR, drowning incidents, and targeted temperature management, and supported by annual national reports and analytics.

Product overview

CARES operates as a unified national registry platform centered on the myCares™ web application, which links EMS agency data with hospital outcome data to create single records for each out-of-hospital cardiac arrest event. The core platform is complemented by specialized supplemental modules including the Dispatcher Assisted CPR Module, Drowning Module, and Targeted Temperature Management Module for hospitals. National Reports provide aggregated analytics, while real-time dashboards enable local, state, and national performance comparison. The system supports data sharing through standardized policies and XML-based data exchange with participating agencies.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• myCares™ Registry Platform HIPAA-compliant, web-based software platform that links EMS and hospital data to create a single record for each out-of-hospital cardiac arrest event, with real-time reporting features including charts, graphs, and tables for performance comparison.
• EMS Data Collection Service Subscription-based service enabling EMS agencies to submit cardiac arrest data, access sample reports and user guides, and benchmark against national performance metrics.
• Hospital Data Collection Service Subscription-based service enabling hospitals to submit brief, confidential outcome data that links to EMS records, with sample reports, data elements forms, and supplemental modules including Targeted Temperature Management.
• National Reports and Analytics Annual national reports and metrics providing comprehensive data on cardiac arrest response, survival outcomes, and system performance benchmarks across participating communities.
• CARES National Dataset Access Usage-based data sharing service providing researchers and organizations access to the CARES national dataset for analysis, subject to CARES Data Sharing Policy and a documented fee structure.
• CARES PAROS International Module International cardiac arrest registry collaborative enabling cross-border data sharing and research through the Global OHCA Registry Collaborative (GOHCAR) and PAROS network.

Quantifiable outcome

• Communities using CARES data have demonstrated significant improvements in survival rates - Detroit tripled its Utstein survival rate since 2015
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers8 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability7 records

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Eleven partnerships are on record, tiered core, major and minor.

• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 17 October 2023CDC awarded Emory's CARES program $23.85 million in grant funding over five years to expand and modernize the national cardiac arrest registry. CARES is the only national data collection tool that connects pre-hospital cardiac arrest data with hospital outcomes, supporting vital public health surveillance.
• Resuscitation AcademycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerOngoing collaboration for national report webinars featuring CARES Executive Director Dr. Bryan McNally and Senior Epidemiologist Rabab Al-Araji discussing cardiac arrest trends and registry direction.
• NASEMSO (National Association of State EMS Officials)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNASEMSO has passed a resolution supporting CARES, with a formal letter of support available on the CARES website. The organization represents state EMS directors in advancing cardiac arrest data collection.
• The Joint CommissioncoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Joint Commission has provided a letter supporting CARES as a quality improvement tool for cardiac arrest care, recognizing the registry's role in measuring and improving outcomes.
• American Heart AssociationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAHA 2025 CPR and ECC Guidelines feature CARES data as a core source of national outcomes. Ongoing collaboration includes research publications, guidelines development, and community education initiatives.
• Emory UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCARES is hosted at Emory University's Rollins School of Public Health. Emory provides institutional infrastructure, IRB oversight, and serves as the program office for the national registry.
• South Dakota State Health DepartmentmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSouth Dakota partnered with CARES to launch a statewide EMS data upload model, enabling a clearer view of emergency response performance across the state.
• Ohio Department of Public SafetymajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerOhio CARES (OH CARES) receives state investment and support for statewide cardiac arrest data collection, with Governor DeWine's budget proposal including funding for the initiative.
• Kentucky Heart Health AdvocatesminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerKentucky advocates include funding for CARES as a policy priority, with efforts coordinated through the Kentucky Office of Rural Health and American Heart Association state chapter.
• NAEMSP (National Association of EMS Physicians)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCARES convenes PAROS meetings during the NAEMSP Annual Meeting, bringing together international cardiac arrest registry researchers and practitioners.
• Global OHCA Registry Collaborative (GOHCAR)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerInternational collaborative working toward improved coordination and standardization of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest registries worldwide.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• ESO Solutions: ESO is a leading EMS data and analytics platform serving EMS agencies, hospitals, and states with ePCR-based data collection, benchmarking, and quality improvement. Like CARES, it links pre-hospital data to outcomes and competes for the same EMS agency and state health department budgets.
• Pan-Asian Resuscitation Outcomes Study (PAROS): PAROS is a multinational out-of-hospital cardiac arrest registry covering Asia-Pacific countries. CARES partners with PAROS via the CARES PAROS module, and the two registries are directly comparable in scope, methodology, and mission.
• ImageTrend: ImageTrend operates one of the most widely deployed EMS ePCR and health data registry platforms in the U.S., with state-level contracts for EMS data submission. It is a direct peer in the EMS data collection and registry infrastructure layer where CARES operates.
• American Heart Association Get With The Guidelines-Resuscitation: AHA's GWTG-Resuscitation is the leading in-hospital cardiac arrest registry and is closely analogous to CARES' role for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. Both registries feed AHA guidelines and quality improvement programs, and they are complementary (or, in some sense, competitive) national clinical registries.
• NEMSIS (National EMS Information System): NEMSIS is the national standard for EMS patient care reporting data in the U.S. and underpins the data infrastructure that CARES draws from. It is a comparable national-scale health data registry serving the same EMS ecosystem, though focused on broader EMS data rather than cardiac arrest specifically.

Broad incumbents

• ZOLL Medical (Asahi Kasei): ZOLL provides defibrillators, EMS software, and resuscitation data solutions that overlap with CARES' EMS cardiac arrest domain. As a much larger medical device and software incumbent, ZOLL is a broad competitor in EMS cardiac data and resuscitation quality improvement.
• Stryker (Physio-Control / Emergency Care): Stryker's Emergency Care business (formerly Physio-Control) manufactures defibrillators and EMS equipment that generate and integrate with cardiac arrest response data. It is a broad incumbent in the EMS and resuscitation ecosystem that interfaces with registries like CARES.

Others

• NASEMSO (National Association of State EMS Officials): NASEMSO is a strategic partner that has passed a resolution supporting CARES. It operates adjacent state-level EMS data coordination and policy work and is a key ecosystem participant influencing state-level CARES adoption.

Emerging players

• Global OHCA Registry Collaborative (GOHCAR): GOHCAR is an international collaborative working toward coordinated OHCA registry standards, in which CARES participates. It is an emerging peer in the global OHCA data harmonization space and a potential cooperative or competitive force for CARES' international expansion.
• Resuscitation Academy: The Resuscitation Academy partners with CARES on national report webinars and quality improvement initiatives for cardiac arrest response. While primarily an educational and QI organization, it serves a similar EMS leadership audience and shares overlapping content and community.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/@CARESregistry
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/cardiac-arrest-registry-to-enhance-survival
• Xx.com/caresregistry

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Cardiac Arrest Registry to Enhance Survival