A summons to a cardiac arrest occurring in a woman in the obstetric or gynaecology wards is, fortunately, a rare event. In a retrospective survey of all 222 arrests occurring in the previous 6 months, White I recorded only one from each of the Labour Suite, gynaecology operating theatre and an obstetric ward (1.3%o), as compared with 45 (20%) from a combined CCU/HDU, 34 (15%) from the Accident and Emergency department and 60 (27%) from the main medical wards. In a subsequent, very detailed, prospective audit of 62 cardiac arrests recorded over a consecutive 7-week period, there were none from obstetrics and gynaecology. Whilst this infrequency of cardiac arrest is gratifyingly low, it also means that neither the nursing nor obstetric staff in those areas gain much experience in its management. Of necessity, therefore, their rote lies in the rapid appreciation that an arrest has occurred, an immediate summons for help and the urgent presence of the medical on-call crash team, followed by prompt implementation of cardio-pulmonary resuscitationJ In order for this to be as effective as possible, all staff should have attended a course organised by the hospital Resuscitation Officer (or local equivalent) and attend at least yearly for a refresher course. It is likely that a cardiac arrest trolley will be stationed in the near vicinity of all clinical areas, so that any member of the ward staff experienced in its use can begin advanced cardiac life support pending the arrival of the arrest team.