emergency cardiac care (ECC) [L, emergeere, to come forth; Gk, kardia + ME, caru, sorrow] , the concentration of personnel and facilities organized to sustain the cardiovascular and pulmonary systems when a myocardial infarction or cardiac arrest occurs. The interventions assure prompt availability of basic life support, monitoring and treatment facilities, prevention of complications, and psychological reassurance. If cardiac arrest occurs outside a hospital, efforts are devoted to stabilizing the patient’s cardiovascular and pulmonary systems while removing the individual to a hospital.
