Actions To Take After A Victim Is Struck With A Sudden Cardiac Arrest

Cardiac arrest is very much rampant these days and can strike anyone so you need to be careful with either preventing it or understanding the symptoms of it in order to be ready with life-saving techniques so as to keep the patient alive until the arrival of any doctor. The symptoms during a sudden cardiac arrest includes the patient collapsing suddenly, the patient is unresponsive or has no pulse, or the patient has suddenly become unconscious. Other symptoms includes fainting, blackouts, chest pain, dizziness, weakness, vomiting, etc. The main cause of a sudden cardiac arrest can be attributed to an abnormality in the heart rhythm which means something is wrong with the heart's electrical system. The heart has its own electrical stimulator for functioning unlike other muscles in the body which depends on nerve connections for electrical stimulations. If something goes wrong with the flow of the electrical impulses through the heart, it can cause a sudden cardiac arrest which can result in a sudden stop of the heart function. Cardiac-arrest-inducing arrhythmia do not occur on their own and does not occur in a person with a normal and healthy heart but they mainly occurs in people who has a family history of coronary artery disease, people who have a high blood pressure and high blood cholesterol, people who are obese and diabetic and people who are chain smokers or alcoholic. The actions that you can take if you come across a person who has suddenly collapsed in front of you are:

• Call 911- It is the emergency number that you should always dial in case of emergencies although if a person has suddenly collapsed in front of you out of a sudden cardiac arrest, prior to making the call administer CPR for two minutes to the victim.
• Administer CPR- It is the most important step that you should undertake immediately after the person has collapsed. Begin with the chest compressions by pushing fast and hard on the person's chest at the rate of around 100 to 120 compressions per minute. Then deliver rescue breaths after every 30 compressions. During successive compressions, allow the chest of the victim to rise prior to proceeding to the next one. All such life-saving techniques will properly be taught to you if you sign up for CPR classes in a reputed training institute. CPR Nashville is a certified AHA training institute and the certification in American Heart Association CPR class Nashville will be highly beneficial for you as you will be adept with all the life-saving techniques and will be able to use the techniques for overcoming crucial situations.
• Use A Defibrillator- While performing CPR, you need to arrange for a portable defibrillator and deliver a shock to the victim's chest when needed and after a shock immediately resume with the CPR starting with the chest compressions. If you are not trained in how to use a defibrillator, call for emergency medical help operator and seek his guidance. Do continue with the delivery of shock with the defibrillator and check for the victim's rhythm until the person recovers his or her sense.