AIM: To describe the epidemiology for out of hospital cardiac arrest of a non-cardiac aetiology. PATIENTS: All patients suffering from out of hospital cardiac arrest in whom resuscitation efforts were attempted in the community of Göteborg between 1981 and 2000. METHODS: Between October 1, 1980 and October 1, 2000, all consecutive cases of cardiac arrest in which the emergency medical service (EMS) system responded and attempted resuscitation were reported and followed up to discharge from hospital. RESULTS: In all, 5415 patients participated in the evaluation. Among them 1360 arrests (25%) were judged to be of a non-cardiac aetiology. Among these 24% were caused by a surgical cause or accident, 20% by obstructive pulmonary disease, 13% by drug abuse and the remaining 43% by 'another cause'. Of the patients with out of hospital cardiac arrest of a non-cardiac aetiology 4.0% survived to discharge from hospital as compared with 10.1% of the patients with a cardiac aetiology (P