Acute cardiac arrest save lives by a chest compressions

Acting fast can save lives: in cardiac arrest every minute counts
Cardiac arrest is a life-threatening situation. If it comes to collapse, resuscitation is often the only salvation. Every person should know what to do in such an emergency. The German Heart Foundation launched a week of action, which should inform about it.
Many could be saved
Every year tens of thousands of people in Germany die after a cardiac arrest. Many could be saved if helpers intervene quickly. But many do not know how to behave in such an emergency. On the occasion of the national revival week (19 to 26 September), the German Heart Foundation will be providing information on the topic. "Because laypeople often fail to adequately reanimate local responders or, for fear of error, do nothing at all, more than 60,000 people die of sudden cardiac death each year in Germany," warned the emergency physician and cardiologist Prof. Dr. med. med. Dietrich Andresen from the board of the German Heart Foundation in a press release.

Without resuscitation measures, patients have no chance of cardiac arrest. Image: Miriam Dörr - fotolia

Hardly any chance of survival without chest compressions
Only about one third of the witnesses to a cardiac arrest perform a cardiac massage. "An immediate measure without which the affected person has little chance of survival", says Prof. Andresen. Cardiac arrest counts every minute. If one realizes that someone suddenly collapses, it must first be checked whether the affected person is conscious and breathes. For that you should address him loud, grab on both shoulders and shake vigorously. If the patient does not respond, the rescue service must be called immediately below 112. Then you have to check your breathing by overstretching the head of the supine patient and raising your chin. According to the experts, snapping and wheezing are not considered to be normal breathing, and in this case resuscitation must begin immediately.

Press until the ambulance arrives
For a cardiac massage, one kneels to the side of the patient lying on his back and places both palms on top of each other on the spot where the imaginary line between the nipples and the sternum intersect. Then squeeze the rib cage quickly and vigorously at least five centimeters deep at least a hundred times a minute in the direction of the spine. It is pressed until an ambulance or rescue service arrives. If other helpers are on site, you can take turns, but may interrupt the chest compressions only very briefly. There must be a "flying change". According to the German Heart Foundation, lay people are no longer recommended to perform mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. However, trained helpers should perform them in the ratio of 30 chest compressions to two ventilations.

Cardiac arrest sometimes announces
Of the tens of thousands of people who are reanimated every year after a cardiac arrest, only a small percentage survive. In some cases, a cardiac arrest can announce in advance by symptoms. These include chest pains, shortness of breath, general weakness, dizziness and fainting. Cardiac arrest can be triggered by a variety of causes, including heart attack, pulmonary embolism, and drug or drug poisoning. (Ad)