About Sudden Cardiac Arrest
A cardiac arrest is when your heart suddenly stops pumping blood around your body. Although it's sometimes mistaken for a heart attack, a cardiac arrest is different.
What causes a cardiac arrest?
A cardiac arrest is caused by a dangerous abnormal heart rhythm (arrhythmia), which happens when the electrical system in the heart isn’t working properly. Not all abnormal heart rhythms are life-threatening, but some mean that the heart cannot pump blood around the body.
Ventricular fibrillation (VF) is an example of a dangerous heart rhythm that can lead to a cardiac arrest. This is when the heart quivers or ‘fibrillates’ instead of pumps. Common arrhythmias like atrial fibrillation aren’t life-threatening although they cause irregular, fast heart rhythms.
What's the difference between a cardiac arrest and a heart attack?
A heart attack and cardiac arrest are not the same. The video below explains the difference.
A heart attack happens when the blood supply to the heart muscle is cut off. This is often caused by a clot in one of the coronary arteries. The heart is still pumping blood around the body during a heart attack. The person will usually be conscious and breathing.
A heart attack can lead to a cardiac arrest as you’re at higher risk of having ventricular fibrillation. It's important to get medical attention immediately by calling 999 for an ambulance if you have heart attack symptoms.
How to survive a cardiac arrest?
80% of out-of-hospital cardiac arrests (OHCA) occur in a home environment where defibrillators are usually unavailable. Immediate CPR and early defibrillation within 3-5 minutes of the Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA) taking place is needed for the best chance of survival.
Anyone can operate a defibrillator, but following a CPR training provides greater certainty during a cardiac arrest.
The British Heart Foundation has developed an online training tool, RevivR, where you can learn CPR in 15 minutes. All you need to start learning CPR with RevivR is a cushion handy and your mobile phone.