PUBLIC HEALTH What is cardiac arrest?
Cardiac arrest and CPR You can make a difference By Demetris Yannopoulos, MD, and Kim Harkins, NREMT
Cold weather makes many things work harder, like furnaces and car batteries. Hearts, too. So it shouldn’t be surprising that cardiac arrests increase in Minnesota during the winter months by approximately 9 percent.
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Cardiac arrest is not the same as heart attack. A heart attack is often preceded by observable symptoms and occurs when blood is blocked from circulating through the heart. It is a plumbing problem that may require a trip to the emergency room. In contrast, a cardiac arrest is sudden, typically happens without observable symptoms, and occurs when a regular heartbeat suddenly changes to a lethal rhythm. This is an electrical problem requiring immediate action. The obvious indicator of cardiac arrest is someone who suddenly collapses and loses consciousness (passes out). There are various causes of cardiac arrest, including having had a heart attack. The increase in cardiac arrest (and in heart attacks) during the winter may be because arteries constricted by the cold are narrower than usual, so the heart must work harder to pump blood through them. This extra work can intensify existing symptoms such as chest pain and shortness of breath, symptoms that may have gone unnoticed during warmer months. And of course, shoveling snow, navigating slippery surfaces, and wearing heavy clothing put additional strain on the heart. Minnesota Resuscitation Consortium Working to improve survival for people who suffer cardiac arrest is the Minnesota Resuscitation Consortium, based at the University of Minnesota. We collect data on cardiac arrest to assess how often it occurs, who is likely to have it, different ways of managing it, and outcomes. Funded by the Medtronic Foundation’s Heart Rescue Project, we partner with organizations across the state to collect data and to coordinate efforts to improve bystander programs, pre-hospital care, care in the hospital, and recovery after cardiac arrest. Cardiac arrests Minnesota has a strong system of increase in care for cardiac arrest. Statewide survival rates are as high as 13 percent, Minnesota compared with the national average of during the 8 percent. But we can do better.
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Increasing survival
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MINNESOTA HEALTH CARE NEWS JANUARY 2013
The American Heart Association states that performing cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) on someone who has just had cardiac arrest can double, and possibly triple, that person’s chances of survival. One way to increase the survival rate is by encouraging bystanders to perform CPR and by increasing public access to