Raising Awareness of Sudden Cardiac Arrest To Save Lives

Raising Awareness of Sudden Cardiac Arrest To Save Lives
Categories: All News
October 22, 2013

Raising Awareness of Sudden Cardiac Arrest To Save LivesOctober is Sudden Cardiac Arrest Awareness Month. The goal is to help the public become more familiar with sudden cardiac arrest, how it affects people and what can be done to help save lives.
Sudden cardiac arrest is defined as an electrical abnormality of the heart’s natural rhythm, which leads to loss of heart function. This causes the heart to speed up or slow down to the point where it can no longer pump blood effectively.
SCA claims one life every two minutes, taking more lives each year than breast cancer, lung cancer or AIDS, according to the Heart Rhythm Society, a leading resource on cardiac pacing and electrophysiology.
Because 95% of people who experience SCA die from not receiving life-saving defibrillation within four to six minutes, time to treatment is critical. However, many people do not know how to respond when someone experiences SCA.
The Heart Rhythm Society advises the following actions in response to a potential SCA emergency:

  • Know the signs of SCA to react quickly. SCA strikes immediately and without warning. Victims will collapse, become unresponsive and will not breathe normally, if at all.
  • Call 911 as soon as possible.
  • Start CPR as quickly as possible. Bystanders should provide high-quality chest compressions by pushing hard and fast (about 100 beats per minute) in the middle of the victim’s chest, with minimal interruptions. Hands-only CPR is proven to be just as effective as CPR using mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.
  • Use an automatic external defibrillator, if one is available on site. AEDs have been proven to save lives and they only deliver a shock when an irregular heart rhythm is detected. They are increasingly available at many public locations.

The goal of the Snider Community Heart Watch, a task force sponsored by Fairfield Medical Center that includes more than 30 physicians, nurses, community members and hospital employees, is to increase awareness about SCA and decrease deaths among people who experience SCA.
Omega Medical Imaging is the source for dedicated Cardiac Electrophysiology systems. Omega provides the Cardiac EP market with a robust, low-cost, full featured EP lab, equipped with 20cm x 20cm flat-panel detector, high heat capacity x-ray tube, and the EIZO 56” 8MP display capable of outputting anywhere from 8 to 21 inputs, all configured at your fingertips.
As a certified nationwide EIZO partner, Omega offers EIZO’s complete spectrum of RadiForce medical monitor solutions that deliver exceptional accurate and stable image display at leading hospitals around the world. Omega can customize Large Display, Video Management, Monitor Booms & Stands to meet your requirements. Omega Medical Imaging is capable of retrofitting and upgrading your existing Cardiac Cath Labs and EP Labs that are using individual monitors as well, at a greatly reduced cost from acquisition to downtime.
Source: www.lancastereaglegazette.com; Dr. Michael Reinig; October 16, 2013.

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