To summarize the status of the coronary care unit in the 70's, our first need, then, is for people—well-trained, dedicated, highly motivated people. The second need is an ideal architectural design to provide maximum efficiency of operation and comfort for the patient. The importance of the availability of the most modern structure and electronic equipment, properly maintained, cannot be minimized. The need for humanism is perhaps the most dramatic, yet most intangible, since it involves people-to-people relationships. It is that unknown quotient, that indescribable concern for the well-being of the patient who is seriously ill which somehow enhances the effectiveness of the medical and technologic skills. Continuity of training is imperative if the concept of the CCU is to extend the accomplishments attained within its first nine years. The future of the CCU depends upon the implementation of the newer knowledge in the field of treatment, the continued development and refinement of electronic monitoring, and the extension of the concept of acute coronary care to the pre- and post-phases of the disease. In the pre-CCU phase, there should be a rescue unit, manned by a well-trained crew—either physician, CCU nurse, fireman or policeman—which could be summoned by the patient, the family or the physician. There should be no delay in the issuance of this summons. The public must be made aware of the necessity to call for aid when there is any unusual sensation in the chest. There has been too much indecision about who should be summoned and when. In addition to being manned by well-trained personnel, the rescue vehicle should carry these items of equipment: an ECG monitor, a two-way telemetry set, a defibrillator, a demand respirator mask, oxygen, and at least three drugs—atropine, lidocaine and sodium bicarbonate. The rescue team should maintain communication with the physician and/or nurse in the nearest CCU. Then, when the patient's heart is stabilized, an ambulance could be called to transport the patient, under monitor control, to the hospital either through the emergency room, or bypassing it, to the CCU where care can be taken over by management personnel. The future must also bring into operation a post-CCU phase, in which the patient will be moved out of the CCU into a monitored step-down unit. The patient would be monitored and given adequate nursing care while mounting the gradual steps toward rehabilitation. The education of both patient and family would be conducted by the psychologist-nurse. The elimination of all risk factors through this educational experience reduces the recurrence rate, and perhaps the primary attacks among family members. Thus, the coronary care unit concept will be expanded to encompass not only the midnight, but the entire round-the-clock span of acute coronary artery disease.