Death is often the first symptom. It can happen anywhere, anytime and to anyone, even a child. It robs, and it steals. It takes parents away from their children and children away from their parents. It strikes suddenly, silently, and with no forewarning. A victim suddenly collapses and loses consciousness. The victim will lose their pulse and they will stop breathing. Their brain will begin to die between the 4th to the 6th minute. Death will ultimately follow within ten minutes. Sudden Cardiac Arrest takes the lives of over 452,000 Americans each year according to the Center for Disease Control (CDC). Sudden Cardiac Arrest claims 1200 victims a day, 50 lives an hour, 1 death every 42 seconds.
Sudden Cardiac Arrest kills more people than Breast Cancer, Aids and Lung Cancer combined. It claims 6 times as many lives as car accidents. In the last decade Sudden Cardiac Arrest has increased by 10% in 15-35-year-olds and 30% in women.
The average survival rate for Sudden Cardiac Arrest is a dismal 5% nationally.
Early defibrillation is the only effective treatment for Sudden Cardiac Arrest. Survival from cardiac arrest is time dependent.
A Cardiac Arrest is Not a Heart Attack
Sudden Cardiac Arrest
2 required symptoms: Unconscious and no pulse is felt - heart is fibrillating, stopped (asystole), or extremely slow.
Death typically occurs in 10 minutes. SCA usually defined as death within 1 hour or symptom onset.
Apply CPR to keep some blood flowing to the brain while waiting for defibrillation to arrive. Note: CPR is only useful in those regions, which have emergency medical services. CPR is not corrective, only defibrillation can restore the electrical rhythm necessary to abort a cardiac arrest.
Most SCAs will be stopped with defibrillation, - which "reboots" the heart without lasting damage. In fact 85% of victims are converted after the first shock. Yet, average survival rates are only 5% because defibrillation must occur within the first 7 to 10 minutes following collapse.
SCA victims are unconscious and unable to call for help. The 40% of sudden cardiac arrest victims who go unwitnessed, virtually always die due to the unavailability of a defibrillator.
SCA will rarely cause a Heart Attack.
Heart Attack
12 possible symptoms, including pressure or pain in chest, pain spreading to shoulder, shortness of breath. Heart Attack victim is almost always conscious. The symptoms of woman may manifest very differently than that of a man. Woman may experience back and flank pain which often can go on without notice.
Death may result if there is no emergency medical care.
No CPR needed, the heart is still pumping.
Bring patient to hospital ASAP. If available, suggest that the patient "chew" 325 milligrams of aspirin to reduce and perhaps reverse the amount of heart muscle death.
Heart attack victims might call for emergency medical help, but typically bystanders call if available.
Heart Attacks are often proceeded by warning signs for months. A heart attack is an on-going event, while a cardiac arrest is a sudden event.
Mechanical malfunction: typically clogged or burst arteries.
Scary Stuff You Should Know
A cardiac arrest is not a heart attack
In cardiac arrest, the heart stops beating effectively, blood does not circulate and the victim's pulse cannot be felt.
Sudden cardiac arrest is like the electricity in your house and a heart attack is like the plumbing.
A cardiac arrest is a momentary electrical disturbance of the heart.
Without CPR or defibrillation the brain begins to die between the 3rd and 5th minute.
Heart attacks, which are caused by a blockage of a coronary artery, can lead to a cardiac arrest.
Unless cardiac arrest is treated within minutes with defibrillation or CPR followed by defibrillation, the victim will die.
Sudden Cardiac Arrest is totally unexpected and 40% of the time it goes unwitnessed.
Sudden Cardiac Arrest kills more then breast cancer, prostate cancer, traffic accidents, handguns, and house fires combined.
There are 140 causes for Sudden Cardiac Arrest, the number one cause being undiagnosed heart disease.
Drowning, drugs, alcohol, stimulants, electrical and chemical hazards and a blunt blow to the chest can all cause Sudden Cardiac Arrest.
Death usually occurs in less then 7 to 10 minutes.
