What Should You Do if Someone is Having a Cardiac Arrest?
Out of hospital cardiac arrest remains the most common cause of death worldwide. Each year over 356,000 people in the US get an out of hospital cardiac arrest, most of which are fatal. This large number of cases include the young and the children as well, not just individuals over 40. And the rate of recovery with good neurological function is at a very low of 9%.
However, this high rate of mortality can be lowered substantially if the bystanders recognize and provide simple lifesaving tasks. Swedish researchers found that “CPR performed before EMS arrival was associated with a 30-day survival rate after an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest that was more than twice as high as that associated with no CPR before EMS arrival.” Another research study, done in US airports and international airports provide proof that availability of an AED is the “key for good long-term, neurologically intact survival.”
A few simple steps taken by you can save a life.
- Recognize: The first one is recognizing a cardiac arrest. Cardiac arrest often presents as severe, sharp pain in the mid chest area that may “travel” to one or both hands, back, jaw, or even abdomen. The patient usually gets dizzy and breaks into sweat. Their pulse rate may go very high or stop altogether and they might complain of difficulty during breathing. Many patients faint.
If you see a person having one or more of these symptoms, call 911 immediately. Don’t ignore the signs even if the person is of young age or seemingly healthy.
- Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR): The next step is CPR. A 2010 review of more than 10,000 out-of-hospital cardiac arrest cases found that 22.1% of patients receiving pre-arrival care, including bystander CPR, survived, compared with 7.8% of patients that did not.
Hence, a standard chest compression should be mandatory for all to learn.
- Automated external defibrillator (AED): AED is the third and a crucial step of the cardiac arrest chain of survival. The use of an AED will almost always increase the survival rate of the patient.
In fact, researchers found that the rate of survival was 34% for cardiac arrests in which the patient was treated with AEDs applied by bystanders versus 12% with no use of AED.
The limiting factor is that most US citizens aren’t trained to use AED. Most have very little knowledge on publicly accessible AED and few can properly use them. In many cases the patient's survival can depend solely on the use of a defibrillator in time, for which AED is an absolute necessity. The impact of fast response of the bystanders in cardiac arrest can be monumental. Proper use AED itself can completely change the prognosis.
About the Myra Logan Heart Fund
AEDs save lives. Of the 424,000 cases of out-of-hospital cardiac arrests that happen annually in the United States, only 10% of victims survive. The chances of survival increase from 6% to 74% if an AED (Automated External Defibrillator) is used to deliver shock therapy within three to five minutes of a heart attack, but tragically only a tiny fraction of cardiac arrest victims in the United States ever get the immediate help they need.
The Myra Logan Heart Fund’s mission is to get an AED into every home, office and school. Its purpose is to educate the public about the importance of AEDs, increase their accessibility, and empower people to save lives.