App able to help victims of heart attack
Life-saving instructions encourage bystanders to Call. Push. Restart.
Here are two things Daphne Hodgins knows about the day she almost died: She had no warning, and unhesitating action by her running mate kept her alive.
“I don’t remember what happened three years ago. Apparently I stopped (running), said there was something wrong, fell to my hands and knees and then passed out,” says the fit, 48-year-old mother of three from the Delta, B.C., area.
Hodgins was in cardiac arrest — a condition different from a heart attack in that it usually strikes without early signs. Unlike narrowed arteries, for instance, that can create discomfort before a heart attack, cardiac arrest is a dramatic change in the rhythm of the heart. It may stop suddenly or, as in Hodgins’ case, flutter so quickly that it can’t pump blood. It doesn’t just hit older adults, it can level athletes and young people, too.
“With a heart attack, people often have warning signs like chest pain or sweating and you have time to get them to a hospital,” says Shelley Parker, head of resuscitation programs for the Heart and Stroke Foundation’s B.C. and Yukon division.
“With cardiac arrest, the person collapses without warning and their heart stops beating. A heart attack is a plumbing problem and cardiac arrest is an electrical problem in the heart.”
There’s no time to wait for emergency responders because death is inevitable without quick action.
Hodgins’ lucky draw was a fellow runner who immediately began hands-only CPR (cardio-pulmonary resuscitation), pressing down in the middle of her chest two times per second until firefighters arrived with a defibrillator more than eight minutes later to restart her heart. Two other running mates had to scramble to call 911 from nearby homes because neither was carrying a cellphone, something Hodgins says she’ll never do again.
“That’s a long time to be down. I came through it with no brain damage and I’m back to normal physically because of a couple of things. One is she started (CPR) right away and the other is that I was running and had a lot of oxygen in my blood and I’m a pretty fit person.”
Once in hospital, doctors put Hodgins in a medically induced coma for 36 hours. Subsequent tests showed no cause for the cardiac arrest.
About 40,000 Canadians go into cardiac arrest each year and only 14 per cent survive.
If it happens outside a hospital — the majority of cases — the chances fall to a tiny five per cent.
The Heart and Stroke Foundation is trying to drive home that message with a new mobile app and educational campaign called Call. Push. Restart.
It’s a short training program that encourages people to not hesitate when they see someone collapse with no pulse and suddenly stop breathing, or take only gasps.
The app’s acronym, CPR, should remind people of the key steps and increase the chances of bystanders helping out, something that’s about a 30 to 40 per cent proposition in Canada, according to Parker.
Call means phone 911 and shout for others to find an AED (defibrillator). A list of locations can be obtained from a 911 operator.
Push hard and fast — about 120 times per minute — on the centre of the victim’s chest with both hands to mimic the movement of the heart and keep blood flowing. Restart when the AED arrives by opening the device, turning it on and following the recorded instructions.
Parker says bystanders hesitate because they fear making matters worse with improper CPR or botching their attempts to use a defibrillator. Both concerns are misplaced because any chest compressions — with the addition of mouth-to-mouth resuscitation if possible — are better than no help at all.
As for portable AEDs, the machine detects a heartbeat once it’s turned on and will not issue an electrical shock to a heart that’s working.
AEDs also have a mechanical voice that tells users how to apply electrodes.
For more information, go to callpushrestart.ca or download the app Call. Push. Restart from an app store. You can also search online for Public Access Defibrillation programs available in your local areas.