Heart Attacks vs. Cardiac Arrest

Video Transcript

"Let's talk for a second about cardiac arrest, and more specifically, the difference between a heart attack and cardiac arrest. Most people confuse them two to be the same thing, and they are not. To sum it up, a heart attack; as we described earlier, is a blood clot in your heart that prevents blood and oxygen to reach a certain part; causing severe pain in your chest, often associated with pain to your arm, your neck, nausea, vomiting, shortness of breath, dizziness, and sweating. Cardiac arrest on the other hand is an actually absence of your heart functioning. This causes a rapid loss of consciousness, you will stop breathing, and you will no longer have a pulse, because your heart has stopped pumping. Now, the causes of cardiac arrest can include a heart attack, but are also from many other causes; traumas, strokes, breathing difficulties, and a number of other medical problems can cause you to go into cardiac arrest. This is a lethal situation, and will rapidly lead to death."