Last Updated on: October 16, 2024
Table of Content
Cardiac ailments are one of the most alarming medical emergencies. According to the CDC, around 702,880 individuals died of heart disease in 2022 in the USA. A majority of the deaths among these have been as a result of cardiac arrests and heart attacks.
The life-threatening severity of these conditions provokes the need for emergency management of the same. The first line of management and emergency management in these kinds of conditions is Heart attack CPR. In this blog, we shall address how to recognize a cardiac arrest and how CPR can be beneficial to the victim.
Cardiovascular arrest definition can be given as the abrupt cessation or loss of cardiac function happening as a result of disruption in the normal electrical impulses of the heart’s musculature. The electrical impulses are responsible for the control of normal heart rate and rhythm. This event is counted as a medical emergency, which when left untreated can turn out to be fatal. Cardiac arrest causes more danger and severity than heart attack.
To understand how cardiac arrest happens, you might need to understand the normal conduction of the heart. The musculature of the heart consists of a web or a network of specialized heart tissue that can conduct electrical signals. This network of tissues is responsible for conducting the electrical impulses throughout the musculature of the heart. This system is also often referred to as the conduction system of the heart. The components of the conduction system include the Sinoatrial Node or SA node, Atrioventricular node or AV node, Bundle of His (atrioventricular bundle) and Purkinje fibers.
When due to any underlying pathology or any other circumstances, there could be a failure in generation impulse or conduction across the heart muscles. This conduction abnormality results in the inability of the heart to contract properly, thus resulting in cardiac arrest.
It is a common notion among people to use the terms cardiac arrest and heart attack interchangeably. However, both of these conditions are entirely different. Heart attack, otherwise also called myocardial infarction, occurs when a blood clot potentially blocks the passage of blood through the heart. Cardiac arrest, on the other hand, is the abrupt stoppage or cessation of the heart’s function due to malfunctioning of the heart. Cardiac arrest and heart attack are different conditions. But if left untreated or unbothered, a heart attack can lead to cardiac arrest.
Heart attack can be considered as a circulatory dysfunction while cardiac arrest is more of an electrical dysfunction.
In the USA, Cardiac arrest causes around 300,000-450000 deaths every year. The major conditions that are counted as cardiac arrest etiology are Cardiomyopathy, Coronary artery disease and Arrhythmias. Apart from these cardiac arrest can occur as a result of Trauma, Valvular heart disease, lack of oxygen or even due to extremely high levels of potassium and magnesium.
A large number of heredity and lifestyle factors arise as risk factors for cardiac arrest. It includes the following:
Understanding the risk factors involved can essentially help in being aware of the fact that a person is susceptible to Sudden cardiac arrest.
What are the common signs and symptoms of sudden cardiac arrest?
Because cardiac arrest is a medical emergency, knowing its signs and symptoms is essential for every individual. An understanding of the signs and symptoms of sudden cardiac arrest is necessary for intervention. In some cases, before cardiac arrest, a person might exhibit the following symptoms.
The cardiac arrest symptoms are very similar to symptoms seen in patients undergoing heart attack. Although both are different, an unattended cardiac arrest can result in a heart attack as well.
Cardiac arrest happens suddenly and without warning. As a result, the patient exhibits a swift loss of consciousness. A detectable pulse and breathing may be absent in cardiac arrest. In contrast, heart attacks tend to develop more gradually, by featuring symptoms such as chest discomfort, pain, shortness of breath, and other signs intensifying gradually over time.
A person can go unresponsive in sudden instances due to a variety of reasons. Looking out for the following indicators of cardiac arrest in unresponsive patients can help us in prompt intervention.
Sudden loss of consciousness, absence of breathing, and lack of a pulse are the primary and most prominent indicators of cardiac arrest in unresponsive patients. Recognizing it is essential to provide immediate intervention and action as it is a medical emergency.
The severity of this medical emergency requires it to have immediate intervention. A timely response is crucial for the patient to survive. Call 911 for emergency help, upon recognizing the signs and symptoms of cardiac arrest.
A fast and prompt response can help to significantly increase the chances of survival in the patient. In most countries, including the United States, the emergency number in service is 911. Every individual needs to be aware of this number since encountering a medical trauma or emergency can happen unexpectedly.
When you call for emergency medical assistance, a well-coordinated process begins. Here’s what typically happens:
Read more: What does CPR stand for?
During cardiac arrest, the brain and other vital organs are deprived of oxygen-rich blood. When a person undergoes cardiac arrest providing CPR treatment immediately helps in circulating oxygen-rich blood to the brain and other vital organs thereby providing a better scope for patient survival. Only correctly performed CPR gives correct and valid results. It is necessary to learn how to perform CPR in Sudden cardiac arrest. Inadequately performed CPR is a waste of time.
A few of the inadequately performed CPR symptoms include:
CPR mainly consists of sets of chest compression and rescue breaths at a specific rate and rhythm. Only a trained individual can know how to perform CPR in Sudden cardiac arrest.
Read More: How to Use an AED: Step-By-Step Guide
To carry out CPR techniques, one must be trained well to give effective chest compressions and rescue breaths. Only individuals trained under proper guidelines can perform it properly. This validates the need to stay updated on current guidelines. Concerns about the effectiveness of CPR need to be assessed under necessary situations and adjustments should be made promptly.
Heart attack CPR training thus plays a pivotal role in saving the lives of victims of cardiac arrest. Studies have shown a proven result that CPR acts as a bridge between defibrillation until an AED is brought to the site of the event. An individual with CPR training can not only promise a better survival rate from cardiac arrest but also promise lower long-term complications, thus offering neurological advantages. It also poses support at post cardiac arrest care.
