RECOVERY

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AED -  Automated External Defibrillator

How it works:
Sticky pads with sensors(called electrodes) are attached to the victim’s chest. The electrodes send information about the patient’s heart rhythm to a computer inside the AED. The AED analyzes the rhythm of the heart. The computer will decide if an electric shock is needed. If a shock is needed, the AED gives voice instructions and will only deliver a shock if it has instructed to do so. The shock that is applied is an attempt to restore a normal heart rhythm.

Why is an AED used?
An AED is used to treat a victim of Sudden Cardiac Arrest.
What is Sudden Cardiac Arrest? The heart is an electrical pump, and the electricity is generated in the heart's pacemaker cells, located in the atriums. The electricity is carried through the pathways of the heart, causing all of the heart muscles to contract which causes a heart beat. Each beat pumps blood through valves and into all the organs in the body. The electrical system can be irritated and can fail to produce electrical activity that is needed to cause the heart to beat. The heart muscle can't pump blood to the body and the person dies. Ventricle fibrillation is the most common cause of sudden death in patients. With no electrical signal, the ventricles stop beating and jiggle like Jello. The use of an AED is the only treatment for Sudden Cardiac Arrest and is only effective under four or five minutes. A study has shown that the cooling of the body on survivors could prevent or lessen brain damage.
Causes of Sudden Cardiac Arrest: The most common cause of Sudden Cardiac Arrest is heart disease. When blood vessels and veins narrow, there is a lack of blood supply to the heart, causing the heart muscle to become irritated. If a blood vessel is completely blocked by a blood clot, this can be a cause of ventricular fibrillation. Trauma to the chest can also be a cause of ventricular fibrillation. An airbag going off in a car can generate enough force to trigger ventricular fibrillation. Sport injuries can also lead to ventricular fibrillation. In baseball, the pitcher is only standing 60 feet 6 inches from home plate. After their delivery, a pitcher is often only 54 to 55 feet from the batter. A batted line drive back to the pitcher's chest can result in ventricular fibrillation or even sudden death. This situation is called Commotio Cordis. The heart is located behind the breastbone, and on impact the electrical system can be short circuited. For this reason, most baseball leagues require an AED to be placed at every field. Cardiomyopathy is a category is heart disease where the muscle in the heart does not contract properly. The heart muscle does not receive enough blood for a period of time, and it can no longer efficiently pump blood. People who have ejection fractions of under 30% are at great risk of sudden death (the amount of blood pumped out of the heart with each heart beat. Rhythm disturbances can also be caused by inflammation of heart muscle, called myocarditis. The prefix myo means muscle, card means heart, and itis means inflammation. Some people are born with a much higher chance of Sudden Cardiac Arrest. Basic structural problems in the heart increase the risk of rhythm disturbances.
How does Sudden Cardiac Arrest affect children and teens? Although it is rare, Sudden Cardiac Arrest can affect people of all ages. Most cases that involve children happen when they are playing sports. The most common cause is hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, which means the growth of extra large diseases heart muscle. This rare disease is often hereditary. The walls of the ventricles are much larger than they should be. The pumping chamber of the heart becomes smaller, causing the heart to work much harder in order to pump blood out of the heart. The abnormally large muscle narrows the pathways for the blood to flow. During exercise, a decrease in the amount of blood flow can cause ventricular fibrillation, causing the person to collapse. Anomalous coronary arteries are also a cause of Sudden Cardiac Arrest in children. The coronary arteries of a healthy person are located on the surface of the heart. Anomalous arteries dive directly into the heart muscle. If the abnormally placed artery squeezes during exercise, the blood flow is stopped to that section of the heart. Most doctors recommend that any person involved in sports takes an examination to screen for disorders that could result in Sudden Cardiac Arrest.
 What are the signs/symptoms of Sudden Cardiac Arrest? During Sudden Cardiac Arrest, the heart will stop beating and blood will not flow throughout the body. There will be an immediate loss of consciousness and the person will fall over if standing. The will be no signs of a pulse or breathing.

Statistics from The American Heart Association
The American Heart Association (AHA)
  • Everyday, 1,000 adults die from Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA), total of 350,000 per year.
  • Doctors do not understand why SCA happens.
  • Shocking the hearth with an AED is the only form of effective treatment
  • 20,000 to 100,000 deaths could be prevented is AED’s were readily available
  • Defibrillation within one minute of cardiac arrest can save up to 90% more people
  • After each minute, the survival rate drops by close to 10%

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Laws

The U.S. senate passed S.1488 which is known as the Cardiac Arrest Survival Act. This act instructs the secretary of Health and Human services to recommend the promotion of public access to defibrillation programs in federal buildings and other public areas. The act also encourages people to respond to cardiac emergency and use an AED.

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