Sudden cardiac arrest
What is cardiac arrest?
Sudden Cardiac arrest is when the heart's electrical system starts malfunctioning and beats in a useless rhythm causing the victim to become unconscious and to stop breathing almost immediately.
Sudden Cardiac arrest is the leading cause of death in the United States, killing around 325,000 people a year.
It is also estimated that around 95 percent of victims die before being able to receive help.
Signs / symptoms
The symptoms of cardiac arrest are suddenly collapsing, losing consciousness, losing the ability to breath, and losing the pulse in your heart. Signs of possibly having Cardiac arrest in the future include feeling chest pain, dizziness, or shortness of breath frequently.
Treatment
Heart disease is the number on killer in the United States. Nearly 787,000 people in the U.S. died from heart disease, stroke and other cardiovascular diseases in 2011. That’s about one of every three deaths in America. About 2,150 Americans die each day from these diseases.
Another word used to describe a heart attack is myocardial infarction, cardiac infarction and coronary thrombosis. A heart attack is the death of a part of the heart caused by the loss of blood supply. The blood supply is usually gone due to a coronary artery being blocked by a blood clot. When a part of a heart artery breaks a blood clot forms around the piece. This blood clot can block the blood flow through the heart muscle. When the heart muscle needs oxygen it is called ischemia. When damage of a part of the heart muscle happens it’s called a heart attack. During a heart attack damage occurs depending on the size of the area blocked by the blood clot as well as the time between the actual heart attack and the treatment. Even though the heart may be hurt, the rest of the organs work with no problems. However, it will not pump as much blood as it used to in order to supply the same amount of blood to all of the parts of the body.
What is cardiac arrest? “According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), sudden cardiac arrest is when the heart suddenly stops beating, resulting in no blood flow to the brain and other vital organs.” .This occurs instantly leading to unexpected death. People tend to confuse a heart attack and cardiac arrest with one another (pause)... a heart attack can lead to cardiac arrest, but they are completely different. What is a heart attack? A heart attack is caused from a blockage of blood flow to the heart muscles. (pause)
Encounters with these patients are often begun with law enforcement calling for rescue, as they got a disturbance call first. There have been many reported cases of these patients dying in police custody and it becoming a topic of controversy over police brutality, etc., when in reality these patients were adequately restrained to protect themselves and others. Since the patients can not break free of these restraints, they essentially have an over stimulation of their nervous system, leading to arrhythmias, which leads to cardiac arrest. Other times when these patients end up in cardiac arrest is due to
Sudden death Young Competitive Athletes is subject to many risk factors, and cardiovascular risk factors seem to be the leading cause. Decreasing or minimizing the risks associated with this health concern is the key. A study over 27 years of time span consisted of 1866 athletes that range from 38 various sports was conducted in the hope of better understanding this heath crisis. Athletes who suffered sudden death or survived cardiac arrest with an age range of 19±6 within the United States were included in the study. The totally reported of sudden cardiac death is significantly higher than any other causes, with the highest of 76 for the year of 2005-2006. The mean was 66 deaths per year during the last 6 years of the study. Sudden
A heart attack occurs when an artery that supplies blood to the heart becomes blocked. The loss of oxygen and nutrients damage the heart's muscle tissue, causing the remaining healthy tissue to pump even harder to keep up.
lives. A simple definition of a heart attack is a sudden failure of the heart
“When I was out those 20 minutes, I saw a man who had long ruffled hair and kind of a thick beard, and it didn’t take me long to realise that that was Jesus,” Zack told CBS DFW.Sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) is not the same as a heart attack. A heart attack occurs if blood flow to part of the heart muscle is blocked. During a heart attack, the heart usually doesn’t suddenly stop beating.
American Heart Association (AHA) estimates that nearly 700 Americans die each day of sudden cardiac arrest (MI), or 250,000 every year, as many as 50,000 lives could be saved each year if certain critical interventions were made. (Freeman , 50) A patient who receives early life support measures and defibrillation within one to five minutes of arrest is much more likely to live and to retain normal brain function. The brain is often at a serious risk for irreparable brain damage related to anoxia and many other co-morbidities that are associated with cardiac arrest (MI). When a perfusing cardiac rhythm returns after a heart attack, the most important objective is to preserve brain function. The AHA and the Advanced Life Support Task Force of
The lack or delay in appropriate treatment for individuals who experience a sudden cardiac arrest has created a major public health disparity. Research into pre-hospital treatment and subsequent implementation has historically seen neglect by the medical and scientific community creating vast differences in survivability of cardiac arrests between demographic groups. In 2010, the American Heart Association and Emergency Cardiovascular Care program developed the 2020 impact goal to reduce death from cardiovascular disease and stroke by 20% and double out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) survival rates (http://circ.ahajournals.org/content/121/4/586#sec-1). This has prompted a massive influx of research into the disparities that exist and an
Sudden death occurs due to cardiac arrest. Cardiac arrest may be the first symptom of coronary artery disease and may occur without any symptoms or warning signs. Other causes of sudden death include drowning, suffocation, electrocution, drug overdose, trauma (such as automobile accidents), and stroke. Drowning, suffocation, and drug overdose usually cause respiratory arrest which in turn cause cardiac arrest. Trauma may cause sudden death by severe injury to the heart and brain, or by severe blood loss. Stroke causes damage to the brain which can cause respiratory arrest and/or cardiac arrest.
Sudden cardiac arrest is a condition in which the heart suddenly and unexpectedly stops beating. When this occurs the blood flow stops to the brain and vital organs. Sudden cardiac arrest is not the same as a heart attack or myocardial infarction. A heart attack is when the blood flow to part of the heart is blocked.
Objective is to summarize published sudden cardiac death information literature and article with valid information and to understand extend of issue with available options for solution.
If a pulse cannot be felt, the patient is unresponsive, and respirations are absent or agonal then that patient might be undergoing cardiac arrest. The proper arrest algorithms for this situation is:
Cardiac death is a loss of heart function. When this happens, the heart no longer pumps blood to the rest of the body and death occurs. It can be sudden and without warning or it can result from a long-term (chronic) heart condition. Immediate action must be taken to prevent death.