Cardiac arrest occurs if the heart muscle stops working. Most often, this entails the death of a person. But if there was someone near him who could carry out resuscitation measures , the victim might be saved. Assisting with cardiac arrest should be immediate, because there are only a few minutes before the brain ceases to function due to the cessation of blood circulation, and the so-called social death occurs. In this case, there is still the opportunity to restore the functioning of the lungs and heart, but even the best doctors will most likely not be able to bring the victim back into consciousness.
Why can cardiac arrest occur?
First aid will be the same regardless of the reasons why this condition has occurred. And yet, what must happen to stop the effective activity of the heart? Everyone should know about this. The main reason is ventricular fibrillation. This is a condition in which there is a chaotic contraction of muscle fibers in the walls of the ventricles, which leads to interruptions in the supply of blood to tissues and organs. Another reason is asystole of the ventricles - in this case, the electrical activity of the myocardium completely stops.
Coronary heart disease, left ventricular hypertrophy, arterial hypertension, atherosclerosis are also risk factors that can contribute to the cessation of the effective activity of the main human organ. Also, cardiac arrest can occur due to ventricular paroxysmal tachycardia, when there is no pulse on large vessels, or due to electromechanical dissociation, when there is no corresponding contraction of the ventricles in the presence of electrical activity of the heart (i.e. there is no mechanical activity). There is also a pathology such as Romano-Ward syndrome, which is associated with hereditary ventricular fibrillation - it can also be the reason why sudden cardiac arrest occurs.
First aid in some cases is also required for those people who have not previously had health problems.
External influence
The heart may stop due to:
- hypothermia (when body temperature drops below 28 degrees);
- electrical injuries (e.g., lightning or electric shock);
- excessive amounts of adrenergic blockers, cardiac glycosides, or anesthetics;
- lack of oxygen (for example, with drowning, asphyxiation);
- hemorrhagic and anaphylactic shock.
How to determine the termination of the heart
When the heart muscle stops functioning, the following symptoms are detected:
- Loss of consciousness - it occurs almost immediately after cardiac arrest, no later than five seconds. If a person does not respond to any stimuli, then he is unconscious.
- Cessation of breathing - in this case there is no movement of the chest.
- There is no pulsation at the site of the carotid artery - it is palpable in the thyroid gland, two to three centimeters away from it.
- Heart sounds are not heard.
- The skin becomes cyanotic or pale.
- Dilation of the pupils - this can be detected by lifting the upper eyelid of the victim and illuminating the eye. If the pupil does not narrow in the direction of light, then it may be suspected that a sudden cardiac arrest has occurred. Emergency care in this case can save a person’s life.
- Convulsions - may occur at the time of loss of consciousness.
All of these symptoms indicate the need for urgent resuscitation.
You can not hesitate!
If you are near a person whose heart has stopped, the main thing that is required of you is to act quickly. There is only a few minutes to save the victim. If assisting in cardiac arrest is too late, the patient will either die, or remain incapable for life. Your main task is to restore breathing and heart rate, as well as start the circulatory system, because without this, vital organs (especially the brain) cannot function.
Emergency help with cardiac arrest is needed if the person is unconscious. First shake it, try to call out loudly. If no reaction is observed, proceed to resuscitation. They include several stages.
First aid for cardiac arrest. Artificial respiration
Important! Do not forget to immediately call an ambulance. This must be done before resuscitation begins, since then you will no longer have the opportunity to interrupt.
To open the airways, place the victim on a hard surface with his back. From the mouth should be extracted everything that can interfere with the normal breathing of a person (food, prostheses, any foreign bodies). throw the patient's head back so that the chin is in an upright position. At the same time, the lower jaw must be moved forward so that the tongue does not sag - in this case, instead of the lungs, air can enter the stomach, and then first-aid treatment for heart failure will be ineffective.
After that, directly begin to produce mouth-to-mouth breathing. Pinch the person’s nose, draw air into the lungs, grasp the lips of the victim with your lips and make two sharp exhalations. Please note that you need to completely and very tightly grasp the patient’s lips, otherwise the exhaled air may be lost. Do not exhale too deep, otherwise you will quickly get tired. If mouth-to-mouth artificial respiration cannot be done for some reason, use the mouth-to-nose method. In this case, close the victim’s mouth with his hand and blow air into his nostrils.
If medical care for cardiac arrest in the form of artificial respiration is correct, then during inhalation the patient’s chest will rise, and at the time of exhalation, will lower. If such movements are not observed, check the airway.
Heart massage
Simultaneously with artificial respiration, chest compression should also be performed (indirect heart massage). One manipulation without the other will not make sense. So, after you take two breaths into the victim’s mouth, put the left hand on the lower part of the sternum in the middle, and place the right hand on top of the left in a cruciform position. In this case, the hands should be straight, not bent. Next, begin to rhythmically press on the chest - this will lead to compression of the heart muscle. Fifteen pressure movements should be performed without detaching hands at a speed of one pressure per second. With proper manipulations, the chest should fall by about five centimeters - in this case, we can say that the heart is pumping blood, that is, from the left ventricle, blood flows through the aorta to the brain, and from the right to the lungs, where it is saturated oxygen. At that moment, when the pressure on the sternum stops, the heart is again filled with blood.
If the massage is done to a child of preschool age, then pressing movements on the chest area should be done with the middle and index fingers of one hand, and if the student is with one palm. With extreme caution, first aid should be provided for cardiac arrest in older people. If you press the sternum with great force, damage to the internal organs or hip fracture can occur.
Continued resuscitation
Repeated breaths of air and pressure on the chest should be until the patient has breathing and a pulse begins to be felt. If first aid in cardiac arrest is provided by two people at once, then the roles should be distributed as follows: one person takes one breath of air into the patient’s mouth or nose, after which the second produces five pressure on the sternum. Then the actions are repeated.
If, thanks to resuscitation measures, breathing is restored, but the pulse is still not felt, you should continue to massage the heart, but already without lung ventilation. If a pulse appears, but the person does not breathe, it is necessary to stop the massage and continue to do only artificial respiration. In the event that the victim is breathing and he has a pulse, resuscitation should be stopped and carefully monitor the patient's condition before the doctor arrives. Never attempt to move a person who has symptoms of cardiac arrest. This can be done only after the restoration of the organ and in a special resuscitation machine.
The effectiveness of resuscitation
To evaluate how correctly the first medical aid was provided to cardiac arrest, as follows:
- A pulse should be felt in the areas of the carotid, radial and femoral arteries.
- Blood pressure should increase to 80 mm.
- The pupils should begin to narrow, and their response to the light stimulus should be restored.
- The skin should acquire a normal color instead of pallor and cyanosis.
When to stop resuscitation
If, after half-hour manipulations, the respiratory function and cardiac activity in the victim did not resume, and the pupils are still dilated and do not respond to light, we can say that first aid for cardiac arrest did not lead to proper results and the person already in the human brain irreversible processes have already occurred. In this case, further resuscitation measures are useless. If signs of death appear before the thirty-minute time has passed, resuscitation can be stopped earlier.
The consequences of heart failure
According to statistics, of all people whose cardiac arrest was recorded, only 30 percent survived. And even fewer victims returned to normal life. Irreparable harm to health was mainly caused due to the fact that first aid was rendered inopportune. When cardiac arrest, emergency resuscitation is very important. The patient’s life depends on how quickly they began to produce them. The later cardiac activity is resumed, the greater the likelihood of serious complications. If oxygen does not enter the vital organs for a long time, then ischemia or oxygen starvation occurs. As a result, the kidneys, brain, and liver are damaged, which subsequently extremely adversely affects human life. If you do the massage, compress the chest very energetically, you can break the patient's ribs or provoke pneumothorax.
Finally
Knowing how the first medical aid is provided in cardiac arrest, you can save a person’s life and keep him healthy. Do not be indifferent! Agree, it’s so nice to realize that thanks to you, someone can continue to live and enjoy every day!