Difference between heart attack and cardiac arrest. How does one explain it to police officers ?

Difference between heart attack and cardiac arrest.

How does one explain it to police officers ?

I am attending a lecture cum demonstration on cardiac resuscitation  organized for police personnel of Bandra area in Mumbai, India.

It is part of the I-care campaign by Holy Family hospital to teach cardiac resuscuitation to the general public as well as early use of an equipment (AED)  to give shock and revive a cardiac arrest victim.

As is usual, the talk also involved clarifying the difference between a heart attack and cardiac arrest.

Although the speaker did his best to explain the difference between a heart attack and cardiac arrest, seeing the confused faces of the people in audience, I intervened to tell them something in the language they would understand.

I said, “a heart attack is like arresting someone with handcuffs and taking him to jail”.

On the other hand a “cardiac arrest” is like shooting down a criminal to death - sudden and instantaneous.

When a person is handcuffed, he is alive but there is damage is to his reputation which increases as news spreads in time.

 Similarly, in a heart attack, although the heart continues to beat and the person is alive, there is increasing damage to a portion the heart muscle due to a blocked coronary artery.

Carrying the analogy further, just as the damage to a person’s reputation can be salvaged, the earlier he is released with as minimum fan- fare as possible, the damage after a heart attack can be minimized, the earlier we intervene with medicines and angioplasty (to remove the blockage in coronary artery).

On the other hand, a cardiac arrest is instantaneous stopping of heart pumping so that blood supply to brain stops. This is akin to a criminal being shot down to instantaneous death.

Is there a relation between a heart attack and cardiac arrest ?

Some  heart attacks (20 to 30%),  but not all, may lead to sudden cardiac arrest.

Conversely, most cardiac arrests are due to coronary blockages or heart attacks. In young individuals there are other causes such as in born defects of electrical system or muscles of the heart.

So, is the treatment different for both ?

A heart attack victim with chest pain or breathlessness, but alive, is best served by taking him to a hospital as fast as one can (nearest is best). Opening the blocked artery as fast as possible is the aim. Minutes count.

On the other hand, a cardiac arrest victim must be treated then and there. Once you recognize someone has collapsed and is not responding and not breathing, the first thing to do is to call for help (a cardiac ambulance or a defibrillator or an AED-automated external defibrillator). Having done that, and till this help arrives, one starts proper and effective chest compressions (100/minute), 2 inches deep at the lower part of the breast bone (sternum). Minimizing damage to the brain and reviving the heart is the aim. Seconds count.

Experience in cities like Seattle has shown a survival rate of 40 to 50 % when CPR is initiated by bystanders.

Did the explanation go well with the police officers?

The smiling faces said it all.