Cardiac Arrest

Cardiac Arrest is defined as the failure and stopping of the pumping action of the heart. A heart attack can lead to cardiac arrest by triggering an unstable heart rhythm. In many cases, sudden cardiac arrest may be the first indication of heart problems. If there is no response, the rescuer turns the person on his back and uses the "look, listen, and feel" approach to determine whether breathing has stopped: looking to see whether the chest moves up and down, listening for sounds of breathing, and feeling for air movement over the person's mouth. This generally involves administration of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), shock treatment to your chest to reset your heart's rhythm (defibrillation) and advanced life support. Restoring circulation as fast as possible improves your chances of survival.
Cardiac arrest is the sudden, abrupt loss of heart function.Cardiac arrest refers to a sudden, profound disturbance in the heart 's rhythm that causes the heart to stop beating completely or slow to the point where the life is unsustainable. Cardiac arrest is not the same as a heart attack. The resulting lack of blood supply results in cell death from oxygen starvation.Cerebral hypoxia, or lack of oxygen supply to the brain, causes victims to lose consciousness and to stop breathing , which in turn causes the heart to stop Sudden cardiac arrest usually results from a severely abnormal heart rhythm that interferes with the pumping action of your heart and causes the immediate cessation of blood flow from the heart to the rest of your body.
During a heart attack, there may be disturbances in the heart rhythm. Sometimes a person can be revived during the first several minutes after suffering cardiac arrest. However, the more time that passes, the less likely it is that the person can be revived and, if revived, the more likely it is that he will have brain damage. The victim may or may not have diagnosed heart disease. It's also called sudden cardiac arrest or unexpected cardiac arrest. A heart attack, on the other hand, occurs when a sudden blockage in the coronary artery prevents blood flow to part of your heart muscle, causing dysfunction in the affected part and possible tissue death. Experts generally recommend that people make lifestyle changes to prevent the conditions that could trigger cardiac arrest, including atherosclerosis , which is the leading cause of coronary artery disease. Lifestyle changes may include losing weight , reducing LDL cholesterol levels, eating a heart - healthy diet and getting adequate exercise. A heart attack , yet who have extensive muscle damage, may be at risk for sudden cardiac death due to the heart's inability to pump enough blood. If the person is not breathing, the rescuer checks for airway blockage by looking into the mouth and throat for any visible objects.

Causes of Cardiac Arrest

The common Causes of Cardiac Arrest :

• Dramatic slowing of heart rate due to failure of its pacemaker or severe heart block (interference with electrical conduction)
• Choking or drowning
• Electrocution
• Sudden loss of blood pressure
• Sudden stopping of the heart and collapse (cardiac arrest)
• Death of heart tissue (myocardial infarction or heart attack)
• Ventricular fibrillation – a rapid, irregular heart rhythm preventing any circulation of blood (most common cause of sudden cardiac arrest)

Symptoms of Cardiac Arrest

Some are common Symptoms of Cardiac Arrest :

• Chest pain
• Weakness
• Lasts for a more than a few minutes or comes and goes
• Back pain or upper abdominal pain
• May feel like pressure, squeezing, fullness
• Unexplained shortness of breath
• Loss of consciousness
• Cold sweat
• Nausea
• Pounding in the chest
• Feeling faint

Treatment of Cardiac Arrest

• Rapid defibrillation using an automated external defibrillator (AED), found in many large public places and in commercial airplanes
• Treatment of specific problems like heart attack, stroke, or trauma by specialized medical teams
• CPR combines artificial respiration, which supplies oxygen to the lungs, with chest compressions, which circulate oxygen to the brain and other vital organs by forcing blood out of the heart.