1. Sudden Cardiac Arrest is an enormous healthcare challenge. It is also a condition that is commonly misunderstood. What exactly sudden cardiac arrest is and how it is different from a heart attack.

Hi friends,

Cardiac arrest occurs when the heart stops pumping blood around the body. Normal breathing stops and consciousness is lost.

Heart attacks happen due to blockages in the arteries of the heart.Heart attack leads to death of heart muscle tissue due to the loss of blood supply.. During a heart attack a person remains conscious and keeps breathing.
Sometimes a heart attack can lead to cardiac arrest.

Cardiac arrest can happen in a person who may or may not have been diagnosed with heart disease. It can come on suddenly or in the wake of other symptoms.

Heart attack happens due to the blockages . A heart attack is treated by angioplasty stenting or bypass or clot dissolving medicines. The first two hours are the golden hours.

By contrast, cardiac arrest is caused when the heart’s electrical system malfunctions. In cardiac arrest, death can result quickly within minutes. Cardiac arrest may be reversed if CPR is performed and a defibrillator shocks the heart and restores a normal heart rhythm within a few minutes.

2. As you said CPR can save a person from sudden cardiac arrest. How can we tell when a person is in cardiac arrest?

For many people, a cardiac arrest comes without any warning signs.

Someone ,who suddenly becomes
Unconscious/unresponsive
Not breathing,No pulse
Sudden collapse
Means He/ she has already had a cardiac arrest .

However, some people do experience some warning signs before a cardiac arrest. These can include:

• Chest pain,
• Dizziness
• Palpitations
• Fainting
• Breathlessness.

3. Lack of CPR awareness is a big health challenge in India. why it is essential for people to learn CPR.

If CPR is performed immediately, it can double or triple the chance of survival from an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest.

The brain can tolerate lack of blood supply for a few minutes. After nine minutes without blood flow to the brain, there can be irreversible damage. CPR helps to keep blood flowing and may help minimize the damage to the victim.

Sudden Cardiac Arrest is witnessed by a bystander in approximately 37% of cases.That bystander could be you!

Immediate CPR helps to prevent damaging effects from lack of blood flow to the brain, heart, lungs, kidneys and other organs.

70% cardiac arrests happen at home, 20% at schools , nearly 1000 emergencies will come at workplace. CPR trained persons can become life saviour at home, schools or work places.

Fortunately there are only a few simple things you need to remember in order to recognize SCA and save a life. There are quick and inexpensive CPR

Following are the steps to do CPR

1.Call for medical help or ambulance (108) or ask someone else to call

2.Lay down the person on their back on a flat surface and open their airway

3. Check for spontaneous breathing. If they are not breathing, start CPR

4. Perform 30 chest compressions.

5. Perform two rescue breaths.

6.Repeat steps 4 and 5 until ambulance or medical help or automated external defibrillator (AED) arrives.

Dr Vithal D Bagi Senior consultant and Interventional Cardiologist
Apollo hospital bannerughatta road Bangalore
9611592145