First Aid: How to Respond During a Cardiac Emergency

December 8, 2018

Knowing how to respond to a cardiac emergency while waiting for medical help, whether it’s a myocardial infarction or sudden cardiac arrest, can be the deciding factor in how it ends.

Cardiac emergency can happen at any time and in any place. It’s good to learn about them and their risks, but in general these are events almost impossible to anticipate.


Cardiac emergencies happen more frequently than we often want to admit.

  • In the United States, a heart attack occurs every 34 seconds.

Differences between heart attack and sudden cardiac arrest

Heart attacks and sudden cardiac arrest are two different things.

  • In sudden cardiac arrest, a person could die within minutes.

See also: Do Women and Men Experience a Heart Attack Differently?

Heart attack or myocardial infarction

Heart Attack: cardiac emergency

A heart attack happens when the flow of blood to part of the heart is reduced or completely interrupted  due to, in most cases, the rupture of plaque in the coronary arteries. They can also be caused by a clogged blood clot or a spasm of a coronary artery. Heart attacks do not necessarily mean that the heart stops beating.


There may be other symptoms, such as:

  • Fatigue
  • Dizziness
  • Difficulty breathing
  • Nausea
  • Sweating
  • Heartburn
  • Sudden loss of consciousness


Sudden cardiac arrest

Cardiac Incident

Sudden cardiac arrest occurs when the heart is completely and suddenly paralyzed. The brain and rest of the organs of the body are deprived of blood flow and oxygen.

Often, sudden cardiac death is so sudden it does not give the person time to get help. When the heart stops, they suddenly faint, losing consciousness completely. Breathing may also stop. Only in a small number of cases does the person notice dizziness before fainting.

First aid for a cardiac emergency

First Aid for a Heart Attack

  • Call the emergency room immediately and ask for help .


  • The sternum should be pushed at least 4 centimeters down, with at a frequency of at least 100 compressions per minute.
  • Keep the rhythm regular and with as few interruptions as possible.
  • Mouth-to-mouth resuscitation should only be used by people who know the technique. Otherwise, it is not useful.
  • If an Automatic External Defibrillator (AED) is available, it should be used to try to restart the activity of the heart. These devices do not require special training to be used; they are simple to use and have instructions posted on them.

The faster you act, the more positive the outcome is likely to be. For sudden cardiac arrest, an even quicker response is necessary. For every minute that passes, the chances of survival decrease by 10%, so after 10 minutes they will be at zero. If the people around the affected person do not act and just wait for an ambulance, the chances of a tragic outcome go up to 95%.

Be prepared.