How to Save a Life – What to Do When Someone Has Cardiac Arrest

Cardiac arrest is a life-threatening condition, but many people are not aware that they could be at risk. Every year, more than 380,000 Americans suffer from cardiac arrest, and roughly 10% of them survive. While it is not common for a person to survive, if you or someone you know is in a potentially fatal situation, it is important to learn how to save a life.

Cardiac arrest has many causes, including heart disease and congenital defects of the heart muscle. Although heart diseases can cause cardiac arrest and the resulting death of an individual, there are other medical conditions that may also lead to cardiac arrest. In fact, a person with certain heart ailments or conditions, such as congestive heart failure, may be at high risk for cardiac arrest, so they should have regular checkups by their doctor to prevent this situation.

Cardiac arrest is often caused by the lack of oxygen, which usually leads to a heart attack or ventricular fibrillation. If this happens to a person who is in cardiac arrest, they will go into shock, and their brain will not receive the oxygen and nutrients that it needs to function properly. If left untreated, a person’s body may stop functioning, and they could die from their condition.

The first thing that should be done if you think that you may be experiencing a heart attack is to contact emergency medical services. They will take the pulse from your chest and look it over to see whether there is a blockage in the arteries in your neck or anywhere else on the body. If they cannot determine the cause of the problem, they will recommend that you visit your doctor to see what they can do for you.

If you are able to make an ambulance and go to the hospital immediately after suffering from cardiac arrest, you will probably have to wait until emergency medical services arrive before you can even receive CPR. You can get CPR certification at the local community college or junior college, and it is recommended that you do so to learn the proper techniques that are essential to saving lives. CPR training courses will help you learn the basics of how to provide treatment for those who are having cardiac arrest in order to make sure that they get better quickly. After you are certified, you will be ready to head back to school and start taking classes to learn CPR certification again.

Don’t attempt CPR until you have received training and are experienced at it, or at least know how to perform the procedure without causing harm to yourself or to others. This will make it easier for you when you have to use it in emergency situations in the future.