<s>[INST] A friend of mine suffered an out of hospital cardiac arrest yesteray.  CPR was started immediately, as well as hypohtermia in the ER.  She had an EEG today which showed burst suppression.  Is this a prognostic indicator for a more dire long term outcome. [/INST] Burst suppression is an appearance on the EEG that suggests that the thinking part of the brain is silent. After an arrest, the efforts to help and medicines that may be used in hypothermia make judgment difficult. Doctors will often withhold any declaration for 72 hours and reassess the EEG findings. </s>