Heart Attack vs. Cardiac Arrest
Is a heart attack the same thing as cardiac arrest? No, it is not. A heart attack occurs when a blood vessel in the heart becomes blocked resulting in a portion of the heart not receiving the blood and oxygen that it needs. This usually results in chest pain that can radiate to the arm(s), back, neck/jaw, or abdomen; shortness of breath; nausea and/or vomiting... In other words, a person experiencing a heart attack is still alive and talking.
Cardiac arrest occurs when the heart stops pumping blood and they are no longer breathing. In other words, they have died. There are many different causes of death (trauma, cancer, heart attacks, stroke, breathing problems, fire, drowning, overdose...), but each cause of death results in the same thing, cardiac arrest. Why is CPR Important?When a victim is found unresponsive and not breathing, or not breathing normally, there is a very high chance their heart is not pumping blood. Without a constant supply of oxygenated blood being circulated to our bodies, it will die in a matter of minutes.
When a rescuer performs high-quality chest compressions on a victim of sudden cardiac arrest, a portion of the blood will begin circulating throughout the body and will slow down the dying process. The American Heart Association (AHA) shares that without providing high-quality CPR and using an AED, the chance of a victim surviving sudden cardiac arrest decreases 7-10% every minute! Sadly, it is estimated that only 1 in 4 cardiac arrest victims receive CPR. Why is First Aid Important?
Not every emergency requires CPR or the use of an AED. The Heartsaver First Aid course is designed to help you to handle an emergency in the first few minutes before Emergency Medical Services arrives. The course will cover emergencies such as heart attacks, strokes, seizures, diabetes, breathing problems, heat/cold emergencies, bleeding, shock, allergic reactions, head injuries, burns, and many other common medical and trauma emergencies.
|
Why is Using an AED Important?
A key to surviving sudden cardiac arrest is to use the automated external defibrillator (AED) within 3 minutes of a victim collapsing. Here's why. The most common cause of cardiac arrest in the adult victim is due to a lethal heart rhythm called ventricular fibrillation, or V-fib. This occurs when the heart's electrical system suddenly causes the heart to quiver in the chest instead of pumping blood. If the heart no longer pumps blood, then the person will immediately become unresponsive, will stop breathing, and die.
V-fib will gradually slow down over a few minutes until the heart completely stops. Although CPR will manually circulate blood and slow down the dying process, it does not fix the electrical chaos in the heart. This is why the AED is necessary. Once the defibrillator pads are placed on the victim's chest and it determines the heart needs to be shocked, it will deliver an electrical shock to the heart that should stop the chaos in the heart and allow the heart to begin pumping normally again. The AED does not restart the heart as Hollywood would have us believe. The AED stops the chaos in the heart thus allowing the heart to begin beating normally on its own. But once the heart has completely stopped, the AED cannot deliver a shock since there is no longer any chaos in the heart to stop. The goal is to use the AED within 3 minutes of a victim going into cardiac arrest. Doing so can increase a victim's chance of survival up to 74%. Paramedics cannot arrive on scene and deliver the shock this quickly, so the fate of the victim will rely heavily upon an AED devices being readily available in as many public places as possible. |