Tag: CPR

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?” →