Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA) – its symptoms and treatment
Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA) is characteristically different from ‘heart attack’. SCA is also known as sudden cardiac death because here the heart unexpectedly and all of a sudden stops beating. As a result, the brain and other crucial organs do not receive blood and the patient surely dies if he does not receive treatment within a few minutes. Whereas, in a heart attack, the heart does not necessarily stop beating. The blood flow to a particular part of the heart muscle is blocked. And the important point is that SCA may well occur during the recovery period of the patient who has suffered from heart attack.
The heart is basically an internal electrical system of the body. An abnormal heart rhythm, which is known as ‘Arrhythmia’, is the outcome due to any particular discrepancy in the electrical system. Arrhythmias can have different manifestations. The heart can either beat very fast, or very slow or it can totally stop beating. When Arrhythmia occurs causing the heart to totally stop beating, it means that SCA has struck.
When SCA strikes, the initial symptom is a loss of consciousness that is akin to fainting. Simultaneously the breathing stops and neither the heart beat nor the pulse can be felt. Prior to fainting, it has been observed that the victims complain of a racing heart beat, a dizzy feeling or may be just a light head.
People who are victims of SCA call for immediate attention. The situation is so terse that almost ninety percent of people struck with SCA collapsed to death within minutes. The only immediate treatment can be provided with a device called the Defibrillator. It sends electric shocks to the heart in order to restore its functions. Automated External Defibrillators (AED) is widely used to save precious lives and they enjoy huge medical acceptance and are found in strategic places like the airport and office buildings. More information is available at www.AmericanMedSupply.com
