First aid for cardiac arrest

2024 Author: Curtis Blomfield | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 20:44

The heart is the main organ in the body, it performs the most important function in human life, some call it the "motor", without which the body cannot do. It is very important to know what can be done if a person's heart has stopped, how to help him correctly and in a timely manner, without harming him.

Description and functions of the heart

There are various reasons why a cardiac arrest can occur. Let's take a closer look at what constitutes such an important organ.

The heart is a fibromuscular organ that provides blood flow in the vessels with the help of contractions in a certain rhythm. The heart is the main organ in terms of functions in the human circulatory system, it is constantly under intense stress. The body distills up to 10 thousand liters of blood in one day, which is approximately 2.5-3 million liters per year.

Such loads require special attention to one's own heart on the part of a person. Must be avoidedexcessive stress on the heart, strengthen the heart muscle and the body as a whole.

What negatively affects the heart?

There are a number of factors that adversely affect the work of the heart, namely:

1. Anxious, poor sleep or insomnia.
2. Fat and calorie rich food.
3. Sedentary work.
4. Stress. Statistics show that this factor often leads to heart attacks. Many people are too emotional and deeply perceive the situations that occur in their lives.
5. Bad habits including smoking, excessive drinking, etc.
6. Overweight. In this case, a person often suffers from increased pressure in the arteries, ischemia of the heart and high levels of cholesterol in the blood.

Let's look at the main causes of cardiac arrest.

Reasons

Otherwise, cardiac arrest is called clinical death. The condition comes on suddenly and can be caused by a number of reasons. The most common preconditions for this would be:

1. Severe electrical or simple injury.
2. Myocardial infarction.
3. Intoxication of the body.
4. Severe heart failure.
5. Spasm of the coronary vessels.

There are many causes of cardiac arrest.

Key Features

In order to determine clinical death and provide first aid to a person, it is necessary to understand the main signs of cardiac arrest, including:

1. Sharp pallor of the skin and faintingcondition.
2. Sharp and convulsive breaths or no breathing at all.
3. Complete absence of pulse in the large vessels of the neck, for example, in the carotid artery.
4. Lack of pupil reaction to light, their significant dilation.

If symptoms indicate cardiac arrest, an ambulance should be called immediately, detailing the person's condition, signs and potential reasons why this happened. While waiting for the medical team, you need to help the person yourself. The main thing in this case is to follow all the precautionary rules so as not to accidentally harm a person.

Don't panic

It is important not to panic and try to start the heart as soon as possible before the arrival of specialists. For this purpose, artificial respiration is performed in combination with an indirect heart massage. CPR should be avoided if the person's vital signs are normal but the victim is unconscious.

It is also forbidden to resuscitate a person whose chest is damaged or ribs are broken. Such actions can aggravate internal bleeding.

CPR

Properly performed artificial respiration or ventilation plays a significant role in resuscitation of a person in cardiac arrest. In this case, you should remember the following rules and sequence of actions:

1. First you need to clean your mouth and nosethe injured person from vomit, blood clots and other substances, thereby freeing the airways.
2. If the victim's jaws are tightly compressed during cardiac and respiratory arrest, they must be opened using a flat object. You can also push your lower jaw forward with your thumbs.
3. If, for any reason, artificial respiration is performed through the nose, then you need to tightly clamp the mouth of the victim. When resuscitating through the mouth, the nasal passages are clamped.
4. In some cases, preparatory measures are sufficient to restore breathing to its natural state. If this does not happen, it is necessary to do 2 inhalations of air with a pause of 15 pushes of indirect massage. You need to do this quickly to meet 4 cycles in one minute. If resuscitation for signs of cardiac arrest is performed alone, then two entries are made after every 10 shocks, conducted with a pause of one second.
5. To avoid contamination through saliva, artificial respiration should be done through gauze or a handkerchief.
6. You can determine the correctness of artificial respiration by the movements of the chest. If, when inhaling, it is not the chest that expands, but the abdomen, it means that the air bypasses the lungs. It is necessary to remove air from the stomach by pressing on the space between the navel and the sternum, after which vomiting may occur. In this case, the victim must be turned to one side so that he does not choke on vomit.

What is important to know?

First aid forcardiac arrest is very important. Resuscitation is carried out until the person has a pulse. It is necessary to check the presence of a pulse in the carotid artery, every 2-4 seconds at the moment when air is inhaled. Any actions with the victim must be performed carefully, you can not press hard on the chest, otherwise there is a risk of fracture. This is due to the fact that during cardiac arrest, muscle tone decreases and the chest becomes abnormally mobile, which increases the likelihood of a fracture.

After the person began to breathe, resuscitation should be continued for some time, blowing in air synchronously with the victim's independent inhalation. CPR should not be stopped until paramedics arrive or until spontaneous deep breathing is restored.

Card Compression

There are a number of rules for preparing for an indirect massage of the heart muscle, which must be strictly observed:

1. The person should be placed face up on a hard, high surface. It can be a table, floor, bench or asph alt. The head should be slightly thrown back, putting any object under the shoulders. This is to prevent tongue sticking.
2. If a person is wearing tight clothing, it must be removed. It is necessary to free the victim as much as possible from things that can squeeze the neck or chest.
3. To conduct an indirect massage of the heart muscle, you need to stand on the side of the victim. If he is on the ground, then you need to kneel.
4. Hands are placed on the lower part of the sternum. bend your armsno, they must remain straight. In this case, the palms should lie one on top of the other.

Next, resuscitation begins in the form of small shocks at equal intervals.

First aid for cardiac arrest must be provided in a timely manner, otherwise death will occur.

Rules

There are also a number of rules in the execution technique that should be remembered:

1. The area to be massaged is determined on the palm of your hand. As a rule, this is the base of the palm, which is due to the ability to bend it for more intense pressure. With correctly performed pressing, the chest is compressed by 5-6 cm towards the vertebra if the sternum is wide, and by 3-4 if it is narrow. Caring for cardiac arrest needs to be done right.
2. After each push, you must hold your hand for a quarter of a second, and then let your chest straighten out without taking your hands away.
3. The rate at which the pressure is applied should resemble a heart rate and be approximately 60 beats per minute.
4. The movements of chest compressions should be intense, but not rough.
5. If possible, change with other people, as the massage should not be interrupted and lose intensity. This pace quickly tires.
6. You can increase the flow of venous blood to the heart by raising the victim's legs a little. In addition, you can raise your hands above the sternum.

Common mistakes

The most common mistakes made when resuscitating a person with signs of cardiac arrest include:

1. Resuscitation on a soft surface. If we are talking about young children, then you need to find a table for chest compressions.
2. Panic and loss of precious time before starting resuscitation measures. You can't panic, you need to act calmly and reasonably approach every step.
3. Insufficient pressure force and frequency of tremors during chest compressions. It will not be possible to restore blood circulation if there is no adequate pressure on the chest.
4. If resuscitation is successful, it is important not to aggravate the person's condition. He must not be given food or drink or medication until the arrival of the medics.
5. You can not leave a person unattended, it is necessary to control his condition, even if he is much better and breathing has recovered.

Medical care for cardiac arrest

Emergency doctors use special methods. The main task is to restore the patient's breathing. For this, ventilation with a mask is used. If this method has not been successful or it is impossible to apply it, then tracheal intubation is performed. This method is most effective in ensuring the patency of the respiratory tract. However, only a specialist can insert a tube into the trachea.

In order to start the heart, doctors use a defibrillator - a device that affectson the heart muscle with an electric current.

Special medicines are also commonly used:

• Atropine is used for asystole.
• Epinephrine (adrenaline) is needed to increase and increase the heart rate.
• Sodium bicarbonate is used for prolonged stopping (for acidosis or hyperkalemia).
• Antiarrhythmic drugs – lidocaine, bretylium tosylate, amiodarone.
• Magnesium sulfate stabilizes heart cells and stimulates their excitation.
• Hyperkalemia is treated with calcium.

Prevention

We must not forget that our heart is the motor of the body, without which no system can work. It is important to take care of the heart so that it regularly serves us all our lives. To do this, you can take some preventive measures to strengthen the heart muscle:

1. Exercise regularly while avoiding excessive intensity.
2. Establish a sleep and rest schedule. It is in sleep that the load on the heart is minimal.
3. Create an adrenaline rush, do what you enjoy and make you happy.
4. Regular examinations by a cardiologist. It is also important to donate blood every six months to check the amount of cholesterol.
5. Check regularly blood pressure, as its sharp jumps can provoke a malfunction of the heart.

We've covered what cardiac arrest care is about.