How to Treat Sudden Cardiac Arrest

Treating a cardiac arrest is very critical and usually life-saving. Without the proper treatment at the proper time, depending on the severity of the symptoms, there is a strong chance that death will occur, or major damage to the heart muscle. You can save your own life or the life of someone else, just by having a little information tucked away for the rare chance that you might encounter such an emergency. Read on to learn how to treat sudden cardiac arrest.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

1. 

   Loudly ask the person if they are OK. If there is no response then quickly lay them on their back and look, listen and feel. Look to see if their chest is moving, listen for sounds of breathing and feel for air movement from their mouth. Check quickly if they have anything blocking their airway by tilting their head back and looking into their mouth and throat for visible blockage, moving the tongue if necessary.

2. 

   Get the blood moving. By definition, cardiac arrest means that the heart was stopped abruptly and therefore blood flow has been stopped. It is absolutely critical that the blood flow be reestablished immediately or brain damage will start as well as damage to the rest of the body. Without blood flowing to the brain, the person under arrest will lose consciousness. It is at this time that CPR needs to be started. If no flow is started within 5 minutes, brain damage is almost certain. CPR or cardiopulmonary resuscitation is the primary first aid treatment and consists of rhythmic chest compressions on the lowest part of the breastbone until breathing resumes, typically about 100 compressions per minute. As of March 2008, the AHA announced that CPR alone (mouth to mouth used to be included) was the primary treatment for restoring lung circulation.

3. 

   Take a pulse from the carotid artery without stopping the compressions. If there is no pulse, then by definition the person would seem to be in cardiac arrest. To find this artery, feel on the neck between the wind pipe and neck muscle, and just under the lower jaw bone, with your thumb or forefinger.

4. 

   Call 911 almost at the same time as doing the above two steps. Every minute counts and compressions can only be continued for so long without medical intervention restoring the heart beat. If you cannot make the call yourself, holler for help without leaving the victim.

5. 

   If you are in a facility that carries a AED (automated external defibrillator) device, have someone bring it to the victim immediately. If you are unsure of how to use it, follow the directions on the device carefully, or ask for instruction through 911. The AED should be used before CPR if possible to jump start the heart. If the AED is unsuccessful, CPR should be attempted until help arrives.

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[vallain]

on 9/17/2008 This is so important. My brother's life was saved by chest compression and calling 911 when he had cardiac arrest.