I also mentioned last week that cases of Sudden death
syndrome from sudden cardiac arrest are on the increase in the country thereby creating
worries and anxieties.
As a reminder, a cardiac arrest is when the heart
suddenly stops beating. A person who has a cardiac arrest slumps/collapses
(falls down) doesn’t react to call or touch, and doesn’t breathe normally. The
person will most likely die if he/she is not treated immediately.
In
adults, it
affects men twice as it does women. Men are more susceptible because of
activities, stress, hustling. Cardiac arrest is often caused by a heart attack from complicated medical
conditions like hypertension, but it can also be caused by other things, such
as drowning and electric shock.
Cardiac
arrest in a child or baby can be caused by many different things, including
drowning, choking, sudden infant death syndrome, asthma, infections or
congenital abnormalities
Treatment
When a person slumps, is unresponsive, and is not
breathing normally, Whether or not the victim survives depends largely upon the
immediate intervention of bystanders. There is a brief timeframe for saving the
victim’s life.
The victims can survive if they receive immediate helps from those
around .To be effective, this treatment must be delivered quickly—ideally,
within five minutes after collapse.
Even the best emergency medical services may not be able to reach a
victim within five minutes. This is why prompt action by bystanders is so
critical and why it is so important for laypersons to learn and get trained in
what we called Basic life support (BLS).
Basic life support (BLS) is the level of medical care which is used for
victims of life-threatening illnesses or injuries until they can be given full
medical care at a hospital. It can be provided by trained medical personnel,
including paramedics, and by laypersons who have
received BLS training.
The victim should be laid down on a flat surface
probably on the floor, lying on the back; rescuer should not attempt to sit the
victim down as no active resuscitation is done that way.
The usual practice of pouring water on the head
or body of a victim should be discouraged; this may cause hypothermia (low
temperature) which is not good for survival. It is not time to start forcing milk or malt drink in the person’s
mouth, this is dangerous as it may block the air way. When the victims get to
the hospital, it’s always challenging trying to clear the airway of the
particles in the mouth
BLS
is generally used in the pre-hospital setting, and
can be provided without medical equipment. The BLS procedure is explained below
with an acronym: DRS ABCD
D ….. Check for Danger signs, in cases of electrocuting,
rescuers should avoid moving too close to ensure safety.
R… Check for Response by calling the person and shaking the shoulders.
S…..If no
response. Shout for help. Get a 2nd
person to call the emergency numbers or the hospitals.
A…. Check that the Airway is open and clear any secretions
from mouth and nostrils.
B.. Check for Breathing. If not breathing or not breathing normally
C …… Start Cardiopulmonary
resuscitation (CPR). Give 30 chest compressions: 2 breaths. Continue CPR until
responsiveness or normal breathing return.
Do not stop to check the victim or discontinue CPR unless the victim
starts to how signs of regaining consciousness, such as coughing, opening his
eyes, speaking, and starts to breathe normally. Once the medical personnel or
ambulance arrives, the rescuer may assist in moving the victim to the ambulance
for onward transport to hospital
D…. Attach
a Defibrillator; A defibrillator is
a machine that gives the person’s heart a controlled electric shock that may
make it start beating again.
The steps
listed above are guides and not training, it is mandatory for persons
interested in doing CPR to attend the BLS training.
In conclusion, regular medical check-up is key to
preventing sudden cardiac arrest and should be promoted. Those who are over 40
years are advised to do a six-monthly or yearly comprehensive medical screening
under the supervision of their physicians.
Those with unexplained or persistent symptoms
like weakness, weight loss, headache, body pain, tiredness etc will also need
guided medical checks. Blood pressure and blood sugar should be monitored
regularly.
In conjunction with the management of the
strategic health insight (The hospital) Magodo GRA, Lagos I will be organising
a monthly healthy lifestyle seminars from January 2015.
It is a community service hence no fee is charged
for the sessions, experts in various fields of medicine, dentistry,
physiotherapy and nursing will be leading the sessions. It is going to be a
very interactive session. Pharmaceutical and other health care companies can
also partner with us in this wellness programme.
The seminars are fixed for 5pm -7pm every (Every
2nd Saturdays). The maiden edition takes place on January 10th
2015.Participants are to indicate their participation by calling or sending
text messages to 08188343865 or 08186549147.
PART B
If someone has suddenly collapsed, is not breathing normally and is unresponsive, they are in cardiac arrest. There is no time to lose. Even if you are untrained your actions can help.
A cardiac arrest is an emergency. If you witness a cardiac arrest, you can increase the person’s chances of survival by phoning 767 or 112 (Lagos emergency nos) immediately and giving CPR.
CPR means:
- chest compression (pumping the heart by external cardiac massage), to keep the circulation going until the ambulance arrives and
- rescue breathing (inflating the lungs by using mouth-to-mouth resuscitation).
Signs of Cardiac arrest
Cardiac arrest strikes immediately and without warning.
- Sudden loss of responsiveness (no response to tapping on shoulders).
- No response to tapping on shoulders.
- Does nothing when you ask if he's OK.
CPR VIDEO AVAILABLE VIA U TUBE ................https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZjszBXF0l8A
.
For detailed CPR training for groups,individuals and organizations,contact 08186549147.
A DEFRIBILLATOR
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