- About 75 percent to 80 percent of all out-of-hospital cardiac arrests happen at home, so being trained to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) can mean the difference between life and death for a loved one.
- Effective bystander CPR, provided immediately after cardiac arrest, can double a victim’s chance of survival.
- CPR helps maintain vital blood flow to the heart and brain and increases the amount of time that an electric shock from a defibrillator can be effective.
- Approximately 95 percent of sudden cardiac arrest victims die before reaching the hospital.
- Death from sudden cardiac arrest is not inevitable. If more people knew CPR, more lives could be saved.
- Brain death starts to occur four to six minutes after someone experiences cardiac arrest if no CPR and defibrillation occurs during that time.
- If bystander CPR is not provided, a sudden cardiac arrest victim’s chances of survival fall 7 percent to 10 percent for every minute of delay until defibrillation. Few attempts at resuscitation are successful if CPR and defibrillation are not provided within minutes of collapse.
- Coronary heart disease accounts for about 550,000 of the 927,000 adults who die as a result of cardiovascular disease.
- Approximately 335,000 of all annual adult coronary heart disease deaths in the U.S. are due to sudden cardiac arrest, suffered outside the hospital setting and in hospital emergency departments. About 900 Americans die every day due to sudden cardiac arrest.
- Sudden cardiac arrest is most often caused by an abnormal heart rhythm called ventricular fibrillation (VF). Cardiac arrest can also occur after the onset of a heart attack or as a result of electrocution or near-drowning.
- When sudden cardiac arrest occurs, the victim collapses, becomes unresponsive to gentle shaking, stops normal breathing and after two rescue breaths, still isn’t breathing normally, coughing or moving.
What is CPR?
Cardiac arrest is the abrupt loss of heart function in a person who may or may not have been diagnosed with heart disease. Cardiac arrest is often fatal, if appropriate steps aren’t taken immediately.
In one year alone, 475,000 Americans die from a cardiac arrest. Globally, cardiac arrest claims more lives than colorectal cancer, breast cancer, prostate cancer, influenza, pneumonia, auto accidents, HIV, firearms, and house fires combined.
What To Do In Case Of
Cardiac Arrest
If you have tried and failed to get the person to respond, and you think the person may be suffering cardiac arrest, here’s what to do:
Yell for help Tell someone nearby to call 911 or your emergency response number. Ask that person or another bystander to bring you an AED (automated external defibrillator), if there’s one on hand. Tell them to hurry – time is of the essence.
If you’re alone with an adult who has these signs of cardiac arrest, call 911 and get an AED (if one is available).
1
Check breathing If the person isn’t breathing or is only gasping, administer CPR.
2
Give CPR: Push hard and fast Push down at least two inches at a rate of 100 to 120 pushes a minute in the center of the chest, allowing the chest to come back up to its normal position after each push.
3
Use an AED Use the automated external defibrillator as soon as it arrives. Turn it on and follow the prompts.
4
Keep pushing Continue administering CPR until the person starts to breathe or move, or until someone with more advanced training takes over, such as an EMS team member.
GET TRAINED
The investment of time and effort to learn CPR is small. The potential payoff — saving a life — is huge.
TIMELINE OF CPR
- 0 to 4 minutes, unlikely development of brain damage
- 4 to 6 minutes, possibility of brain damage
- 6 to 10 minutes, high probability of brain damage
- 10 minutes and over, probable brain damage
Fundamentally, cardiac arrest treatment is a community issue; local resources and personnel must provide appropriate, high-quality care to save the life of a community member, a by stander or a co-worker.
One goal—to increase the likelihood of survival with good neurologic and functional outcomes for any person who suffers a cardiac arrest (i.e., improved patient outcomes)—provides the roof for AHYA FOUNDATION.
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN
Heart Attack
The term “heart attack” is often mistakenly used to describe cardiac arrest. While a heart attack may cause cardiac arrest, the two terms don’t mean the same thing.
Heart attacks are caused by a blockage that stops blood flow to the heart. A heart attack (or myocardial infarction) refers to death of heart muscle tissue due to the loss of blood supply.
VS
Cardiac Arrest
By contrast, cardiac arrest is caused when the heart’s electrical system malfunctions. The heart stops sending blood to the body and brain, either because it is beating too fast and too erratically, or because it has stopped beating altogether. Oxygen-starved brain cells start to die. Death occurs in minutes — unless a bystander takes matters into his or her hands and starts CPR.
Doing CPR keeps blood circulating until trained and better-equipped first responders arrive on the scene to jump-start the heart back into a normal rhythm.
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