By studying 656 attempts at resuscitation performed on 335 patients, 239 of whom were over 60 years old, we have tried to answer some questions as to the appropriate use of technical means and medication for the purposes of resuscitation. In doing so, apart from the purely medical facts, we have explored the human and legal aspects, coming now to the fore, of the application of extraordinary therapeutic measures to old people. Above all, it is the patient’s multiple pathology rather than age that seems to be decisive for a successful long-term resuscitation. Resuscitations successful in the long run can be expected in old age only in case of acute episodes of coronary or arteriosclerotic diseases. No direct relationship between the number of resuscitations per patient, the age and the change of survival could be established with our patients. The patients over 60 years of age asked 6 months after their discharge from the hospital as to whether they wished another resuscitation took a very negative attitude to it, although they thought their current life to be definitely worth living. In future, the attending physician, while considering the resuscitation of a patient known to him, should set the basic medical situation, the probable chance of full recovery and the patient’s attitude to life and death above his own medical ambiti