Sudden Cardiac Arrest or SAC occurs because of a condition called ventricular defibrillation. During this condition, the lower chambers of the heart do not function properly. The fibrillation of the ventricles does not allow them to contract normally and as such poses a severe problem to pumping blood efficiently.
This arrhythmia causes the heart to not pump blood to the brain and other vital organs which results in the heart beating in a chaotic and irregular manner. If this condition is not treated in minutes with the help of an
automatic external defibrillator or
AED, then it can lead to the death of a person.
Sudden Cardiac Arrest is one of the leading causes of death in the United States with over 300,000 people experiencing it every year. The condition is quite fatal, with the victims having a survival rate of only 5%. As such, it is very important to know the factors that can cause this condition so that we can take all the precautions necessary to be healthy and safe.
The following are the symptoms which can lead to this condition in the future- people having a family history of heart disease, heart attack or cardiac death, people experiencing sudden fainting spells, shortness of breath an chest pain, having a heart attack can also lead to this condition, having a cardiac ejection fraction of less than 40% and having high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity or high cholesterol are all the risk factors. Any person having these symptoms should immediately get a checkup done by a heart specialist.
The most common symptoms that a person having a Sudden Cardiac Arrest experiences chest pain, an acute pain in the left arm, shoulders or jaw, difficulty in breathing, dizziness, vomiting, nausea ,sweating ,immediate loss of consciousness, a racing heart beat and if no immediate action is taken then finally the breathing stops and death occurs.
When a person collapses from Sudden Cardiac Arrest then immediate action is required in order to save the person’s life. Calling 911 and any other emergency number should be immediately done so that we can be assured that professional help is at hand. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation and
defibrillation using an automatic external defibrillator (AED) should be done.
The
AED first analyses the heart beat and the patient’s condition and through either a voice prompt or visual display indicates the next course of action that should be taken. It instructs the user to press a specific button which can help deliver a shock to bring back the person’s heart beat to normal. After the first shock is given, the device monitors the victim’s vital statistics and then decides if cardiopulmonary resuscitation or another shock is required or not.
AED’s should be installed in all public and workplaces and are very easy to use . Thus, the condition of Sudden Cardiac Arrest is a very dangerous and sudden one and as such we should take as much care as possible to prevent it as much as we can and should always consider having an AED in close proximatey.
