Although you may have heard the terms cardiac arrest and heart attack
used interchangeably, they are two distinct situations with different
symptoms and effects. The term heart attack refers to the muscle tissue
in the heart being damaged by lack of blood flow. When a person
experiences a heart attack, it is usually due to a blood clot in one of
their heart's major arteries which drastically limits or stops the blood
flow to the heart. Once the flow of blood is cut off from the muscle
tissue in the heart, it will begin to die and cause severe chest pains.
Symptoms of Heart Attack:
- Chest Pain
- Pressure, heaviness or tightness in the chest
- Pain or pressure in the neck or jaw
- Shortness of Breath
- Sweating
- Pain or throbbing at or in-between the shoulder blades
The
condition cardiac arrest refers to when the heart actually fails to
pump blood to the bodies vital organs. In the case of cardiac arrest,
the heart will either stop pumping blood adroitly, or vary in speed
which would render it useless. A person experiencing cardiac arrest can
die within four minutes if not immediately receiving efficient medical
attention. There are three main causes for sudden cardiac arrest are
ventricular fibrillation, ventricular tachycardia, and asystole.
Ventricular Fibrillation
Ventricular
fibrillation occurs when the heart muscle begins to quiver erratically,
leading to a loss of blood flow through the heart.
Treatments for ventricular fibrillation include CPR and defibrillation
Ventricular Tachycardia
Ventricular
tachycardia is a problem in which a recurring loop in the conduction
pathways of the heart gives way to rapid contractions of the ventricles.
As
a result, the victims blood pressure and overall blood flow will be
greatly reduced due to the inability of the ventricles to fully fill
with blood between contractions
Asystole
Asystole is the absolute standstill of the heart muscle
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