Tag: CPR

Did you learn about CPR from TV shows like Grey’s Anatomy?

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 16 Comments

by Carolyn Thomas  ♥  @HeartSisters 

Before my heart attack, much of what I knew about CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) was learned by watching TV medical dramas like Grey’s Anatomy.  Researchers who study how television has impacted public opinion suggest that TV actors following their cardiac arrest scripts are heroically brought back to life by another TV actor pretending to perform CPR over 70 per cent of the time. (1)  Pulse restored, smiles of relief all around, and the cheerful patient and family heading for home while waving in gratitude to the brilliant hospital life-savers.

For real-life heart patients, however, we know that most people whose hearts suddenly stop don’t survive. Only about one-quarter make it out of the hospital alive. Of those survivors, the American Heart Association reports that nearly one-third are seriously disabled.(2) Continue reading “Did you learn about CPR from TV shows like Grey’s Anatomy?” →

What sudden cardiac arrest looks like

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 7 Comments

by Carolyn Thomas  ♥  @HeartSisters

24 Hour Holter Monitor via Dr. John Mandrola

This EKG* belongs to a person who died of Sudden Cardiac Arrest on the golf course, approximately nine minutes after his heart went into a state of ventricular fibrillation (VF).  Sudden cardiac death almost always results from VF – a rapid and disorganized activation of the heart’s ventricles. The best way to stop VF is to defibrillate the heart to try to restore regular rhythm and restore normal contractions through the use of electric shock.  Continue reading “What sudden cardiac arrest looks like” →

Is sudden cardiac arrest the same thing as a heart attack?

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 10 Comments

red heart on black

by Carolyn Thomas  ♥  @HeartSisters

One of the reasons that I believed the Emergency physician who had misdiagnosed me with acid reflux during my heart attack was my very inaccurate perception of what a heart attack looks like.

I used to think that heart attacks happen mostly to men.  Old men.  Old fat men who are out-of-shape-chain smokers and heavy drinkers.  Old fat out-of-shape smoking drinking men who one day out on the golf course suddenly clutch their chests and keel over, unconscious.  CPR.  911. Ambulance sirens screaming. Paramedics. Defibrillator paddles. That’s a heart attack, right?

Wrong, my dear heart sisters. Continue reading “Is sudden cardiac arrest the same thing as a heart attack?” →