A Guide to Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA)
Introduction
Around 3 million people die from Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA) every year; it is the world’s biggest killer and can happen to anyone, anywhere and at anytime.
This booklet aims to give you further information to understand sudden cardiac arrest and how it can be treated, and has been put together by experienced authors using extensive medical research.
Sudden Cardiac Arrest…The Facts
• Its strikes without warning killing 3 million people per year worldwide
• 13% of workplace fatalities are from SCA
• 34% of those who have installed an AED have used their defibrillator at least once to save a life.
• It kills more people than lung or breast cancer combined
• It can happen to anyone even young athletes
• Defibrillation is the only treatment
What is SCA?
Sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) occurs due to an electrical malfunction which disrupts the normal heart rhythm. If this is not treated quickly, death can occur in very few minutes. It is caused by life threatening abnormal rhythms, known as arrhythmias, and the most common arrhythmia is ventricular fibrillation (VF).
When the heart is in a VF state, the heart’s rhythm is chaotic making it shake rapidly so that it is unable to pump blood to the body and the brain.
When the heart suffers VF, sudden cardiac arrest occurs. A SCA victim will first lose their pulse, then consciousness and finally won’t be able to breathe, and all this can happen in a matter of seconds.
The only way to treat a SCA victim is through defibrillation using shock to restore a normal heart rhythm.
SCA really can happen to anyone, at anytime and strikes without warning. It claims 140,000 lives per year in the UK, people of all ages, fitness levels and walks of life…and very few of these survive.
Causes of SCA
Anyone can suffer SCA; it is unpredictable and can strike at anytime. You at higher risk from SCA if you:
• Have had a previous heart attack or heart disease
• Have a family history of heart problems
• Have undiagnosed heart problems.
• Suffer from asphyxiation (drowning, choking etc)
• Suffer from an electrocution
• Have an impact or trauma to the chest
The Adult Chain of Survival
The Adult Chain of Survival is a set of guidelines for the treatment of SCA. By taking the quick action recommended, the chance of saving someone’s life is dramatically improved.
Early Access: Get help, call emergency services immediately.
Early CPR: Buy time until defibrillation equipment arrives. CPR will help maintain the blood supply to the brain and organs.
Early Defibrillation: Defibrillation is the only way to treat SCA and to restart the heart, the sooner this happens the better.
Early Advanced Cardiac Life Support: After defibrillation, there is always a possibility it could happen again and so it is important that the victim receives after care from paramedics or hospital specialists.
Treatment for SCA
The only proven way to treat SCA is by delivering an electric shock to the heart to restore a normal heart rhythm. This is called defibrillation and can make the difference between saving a life and having a victim die.
Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) will not restart the heart in a SCA situation. CPR is a temporary measure used to keep the supply of oxygen to the brain and other organs.
It’s a race against time when SCA strikes. In just 10 minutes a victim can die if they do not receive defibrillation treatment. For every minute a victim does not receive defibrillation, their chances of survival drop by 10%.
If a victim receives defibrillation within 3 minutes, the chances of survival are drastically increased by up to 70%.
What is CPR?
CPR involves giving mouth-to-mouth resuscitation and chest compressions to keep blood flowing to the brain and organs when the heart isn’t functioning properly. People often think that CPR is enough to save someone from SCA, but CPR will never restart a heart that is actually in SCA.
SCA and Heart Attack
Many people confuse SCA with a heart attack, but the two are different. SCA is an electrical problem with the heart, where as a heart attack is a blood supply problem.
Heart Attack
• Caused by a blockage in the artery that supplies blood to the heart.
• The affected heart muscle begins to die due to the lack of oxygen supply.
• The patient usually remains alert and awake during a heart attack and symptoms include central chest pain, arm and jaw pain.
Sudden Cardiac Arrest
• Caused by an abnormal heart rhythm or an arrhythmia called ventricular fibrillation.
• This will happen usually without warning and the patient always loses consciousness.
• The only way to treat SCA is through shock to the heart using defibrillation.
