Cardiac arrest can strike without warning, and it can be fatal. People with heart disease or older than 50 probably encounter sudden cardiac arrest. The condition is related to your heart’s electrical system.
It occurs with the abrupt loss of heart functions, shallow breathing, and unconsciousness. With sudden cardiac arrest, the heart’s pumping action disrupts and jams the blood flow to your body.
People often assume that cardiac attack and cardiac arrest are in the same state. But that’s not the truth. Cardiac arrest results from this blockage as the heart fails to push blood to the body. In contrast, the cardiac attack is the cause of cardiac arrest as the heart arteries get clogged and fail to flow blood.
In this article, we’ll discuss cardiac arrest, its symptoms, its causes, and the best instant remedies we can do to save a life. So let’s dive in…
What’s Cardiac Arrest?
Our heart is a fist size organ that regulates refined blood in our body. It has four chambers made of solid muscles. Each of the chambers contracts on receiving the electrical signals to do so.
These contractions push the blood to the next chamber and eventually to the body. When the lower chambers, known as Ventricles, beat too rapidly, they can’t get filled with blood between two beats and thus fail to push enough blood out to the body.
Sometimes, the upper chambers beat too rapidly that they can’t pump blood efficiently. In this manner, the heart fails to function correctly, called Cardiac Arrest.
Causes of Cardiac Arrest
The prime cause of sudden cardiac arrest is abnormal heart rhythm due to the failure of the heart’s electrical system. On the failure of the electrical system, either the heart beats too fast or too slow.
In both conditions, it doesn’t pump blood properly. Besides this, some specific heart conditions also trigger cardiac arrest. These conditions include:
- Coronary artery disease
- Heart attack
- Enlarged heart or cardiomyopathy
- Valvular heart disease
- Congenital heart disease
- Other electrical problems
Signs of Sudden Cardiac Arrest
Although sudden cardiac arrest often occurs without any warning sign; the most common signs or symptoms of cardiac arrest are mentioned below-
- Sudden collapse
- Shortness of breath
- Weakness
- Pounding heart
- Loss of consciousness
- Chest pain or discomfort
- Fast beating
- Low pulse rate
Diagnosis of Cardiac Arrest
Since cardiac arrest comes without warning, the diagnosis is impossible until the person regains the pace of heartbeats. When the person is revived, diagnostic tests are conducted to identify the causes of cardiac arrest and whether it was a cardiac arrest.
The diagnostic tests also provide information about the structure and functionality of the heart and its current state. The reports may reflect how well the heart of the person is pumping blood, show evidence of damage in the heart, identify arrhythmia, and record the heart’s electrical activities. Among various diagnostic tests for cardiac arrest, the most recommended are as follows-
- Specific Blood Tests
- Echocardiography
- Electrocardiogram (EKG)
- Electrophysiology Study
- Cardiac Catheterization
- Cardiac Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)
Instant Treatment Guide for Sudden Cardiac Arrest
Since sudden cardiac arrest has no warning signs, we need to be aware and conscious of the heart health of the concerned person. Let the person not roam alone as they won’t get help in case of sudden cardiac arrest.
The lack of oxygen-rich blood may lead to death or permanent brain damage. Cardiac arrest can end life within a few minutes. Therefore if you see someone encountering sudden cardiac arrest, call 911 and don’t wait for them to come. Instead, prepare to provide cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) by yourself.
If you’re unsure about the CPR process, ask the 911 operators to guide you through the call. However, you should be aware of the CPR process in advance for cases of emergency and saving a life. The steps to perform CPR are as follows-
- Ensure a Safe Environment – A person encountering cardiac arrest suffocates to breathe as the heart stops functioning normally. In such cases, ensure that the person may be sitting or lying in a safe place. Avoid the crowd to be gathered there and allow the person to breathe properly.
- Practice Relaxation- Ease the person by lifting the clothes so that they may feel comfortable breathing. There is a high probability that the person may fall unconscious. Hence, check for any scars or bleeding after hitting the ground or floor. If yes, try to stop the blood flow. Seek help from people around you to do so while preparing for CPR.
- Ask for Help- CPR needs complete focus and compression. Therefore, ask helpers to call 911 and get the AED (automated external defibrillator) if feasible to begin CPR.
- Begin CPR with Compressions – Rest your hand two inches below the center bone of your chest and place the other hand on it. Now start giving pushups at the rate of 100 per minute. Do not compress harder, as it may break the chest ribs. Keep it gentle but firm and with pace. Allow the chest to come up to its normal state after every push.
- Use AED – As soon as you get the AED, turn it on and follow the prompts.
- Continue Giving CPR – Monitor the person until they regain a normal heartbeat. If the condition deteriorates, inform the 911 operator or ask the crowd to find an EMS team member nearby for advanced CPR treatment.
Bottom Line
Cardiac arrest is fatal, and the agony is that you never know when the heart will stop pumping. Therefore, it is always advised to people with heart disease not to be alone. If you know someone who can be a suspected cardiac arrest victim, suggest they follow a healthy life routine and go for checkups at regular intervals. Meanwhile, you can learn about the CPR process to save the life of your loved ones as well as others.
References-
- https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/21736-cardiac-arrest
- https://www.health.harvard.edu/heart-attack/cardiac-arrest#:~:text=Treating%20cardiac%20arrest%201%20Place%20the%20heel%20of,5%20Aim%20to%20do%20100%20presses%20a%20minute.
- https://www.heart.org/en/health-topics/cardiac-arrest/emergency-treatment-of-cardiac-arrest
