Tag: sudden cardiac arrest

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Why Everyone Should Know How to Operate a Defibrillator

Sudden Cardiac Arrest

Why Everyone Should Know How to Operate a Defibrillator

Unfortunately, Sudden Cardiac Arrest continues to be a leading killer worldwide. Regardless of age, health or location SCA continues to strike unexpectedly, thus it is important to be prepared. The First Aid Canada Team highly recommends defibrillators in community centres and public settings, as well as in the home. For every minute someone has to wait before defibrillation after suffering SCA, their chance of survival decreases by 10% making an AED onsite crucial for saving lives.
 

If you are unfamiliar with how an Automated External Defibrillator works, check out our blog: The Shocking Truth About AEDs – you may be surprised on how smart this technology actually is!
 

As we mentioned in our previous blog: “Does Your Child’s School Have a Defibrillator?” Philips HeartStart Automated External Defibrillators provide the user with voice commands indicating the steps needed to correctly save a life in the case of an emergency. Because the Philips HeartStart technology is so smart, defibrillators know the intensity of the shock needed to restart the heart making the operating process easy enough for a third grader to operate without having had previous training. 

AED Trio

Everyone should know how to operate a defibrillator because it can mean the difference between life and death. The more defibrillators placed in public settings, the better. Signs and vibrant casing are also important in locating these life-saving devices. Signage should be placed above the onsite AED and individuals frequenting the facility should know where to locate this device.

The First Aid Canada Team hopes that you never have to operate an Automated External Defibrillator, but are prepared. For more information on the defibrillators offered by First Aid Canada, please click here. 

Life is Precious. Be Prepared.

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Low Rise Buildings Increase Your Chance of Survival

Hands holding heart

Low Rises Increase Your Chance of Survival

Although a view from the top can be quite beautiful there are also risks that come along with working or living in high-rise buildings. One of these risk factors is access to defibrillators as the higher you are the lower your chances of survival. A recent study published in the Canadian Medical Journal Association proves this with Canadian facts:

For those who call 911 from a high-rise, the odds of survival from cardiac arrest depend on what floor the patient lives. That’s the main conclusion of an intriguing study by a paramedic and doctors with Rescu, a university and hospital research program in Toronto that focuses on patients who suffer heart and other life threatening emergencies outside of hospital. Researchers looked at the 911 records of more than 8200 people in Toronto who suffered cardiac arrest at a private residence. 4.2% of the nearly six thousand of them who lived on the first or second floor survived a cardiac arrest. Just 2.6% of the 1844 people living on or above the third floor survived. A dismal 0.9% of those who resided above the 16th floor lived; for those who lived above the 25th floor, the chance of survival was zero.

Although these are staggering and devastating facts there are ways of creating safer living environments, such as acquiring an Automated External Defibrillator. Because of the extra time it takes emergency personal to reach those residing on higher floors, being as close as possible to an AED could mean the difference between life and death.

For those working in office buildings the First Aid Canada Team recommends the Philips HearStart Onsite Defibrillator. There are many reasons why this defibrillator is best to have onsite in an office including: easy to use, self-testing, visual cues, guided audio instructions, etc. For more information on this model click here, or for more information on AEDs in the workplace click here for our blog. It is also recommended that depending on the office size that a defibrillator be within 3 minutes of the victim, so if your office is a couple of floors it would be an educated choice to acquire and AED for all floors.

For those living in high-rise buildings an AED is highly recommended if heart disease is present or a risk factor. In the case of acquiring an AED for the home in a high rise building the First Aid Canada Team recommends the Philips HeartStart Home Automated External Defibrillator. This defibrillator is extremely easy to use, portable, contains visual and audio instructions, has a quick shock feature, etc. For more information on AEDs for the home, click here for our recent blog or click here for more information on the Philips HeartStart Home AED Model.

If you have any questions on these life-saving devices please feel free to contact the First Aid Canada Team at 1-866-322-4243.

Life is Precious. Be Prepared.

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What You Should Know About Snow Shoveling and Sudden Cardiac Arrest

Man shoveling snow at risk of sudden cardiac arrest

There are an unsettling number of people who are rushed to the hospital with chest pain after shovelling their driveways, many of them have had a heart attack.

Although a heart attack IS an excellent excuse to get out of clearing your driveway of snow…that is not why people are getting them! The bottom line comes down to risk of cardiovascular disease (such as high blood pressure or cholesterol), and not regularly exercising.

If it’s been a while since you’ve exercised, it is best that when you do start back up, to take it slow. If someone who has not exercised in a long while wanted to get back into exercising by running a marathon, it’s just not realistic and down-right dangerous. You must work your body up to a point where it can HANDLE the 52km run. If your body isn’t ready, you will get hurt.

The true is same for shovelling snow. Shovelling snow is very intense exercise. Just think, you go to the gym to lift WEIGHT. When you shovel, you are lifting weight. Pushing and lifting, and throwing….over and over again. And the heavier the snow, the harder it is. Shovelling your driveway after a heavy snow fall is like going to the gym and working out hard for an hour or so.

This isn’t a recommendation to not shovel…on the contrary, this is a message to start exercising! The snow will fall this winter, and you will have to shovel it…you can decrease your risk of heart attack during your shovelling by exercising regularly.

But what should you do when you are shovelling and you feel chest pain?

Recognize the Signs.

Not everyone experiences a heart attack the same, you may not feel the “typical” symptoms.

  • Pain or pressure in the chest
  • Pain in your jaw
  • Nausea (like you need to vomit)
  • Pain shooting down your arm
  • Overall feeling of being unwell

 If you feel any of these, stop what you are doing, and CALL 911.

How can you prevent a heart attack during snow shovelling?

Before You Shovel…

  • Talk to your doctor before the snow starts falling
  • Avoid shoveling right after you wake up as most heart attacks occur early in the morning when blood is more prone to clotting
  • Do not eat a heavy meal before shoveling
  • Warm up before starting by walking, marching in place and/or doing light stretching
  • Do not drink coffee or smoke at least one hour before. These elevate your blood pressure and heart rate

While You Shovel…

  • Try to shovel when the snow is light and powdery
  • Use a smaller shovel…it’s lighter when you lift
  • Wear light, layered, water-repellent clothing provides both ventilation and insulation. It is also important to wear a hat, as well as mittens or gloves and thick, warm socks
  • Avoid falls by wearing shoes or boots that have slip-resistant soles
  • Take regular breaks, you don’t have to finish the entire driveway in one go
  • Drink lots of water to prevent dehydration
  • If you feel pressure, pain or tightness in your chest, or discomfort spreading to your shoulders, neck, jaw, arms, or back, call 911 immediately

And if you are in doubt, or have already suffered a heart attack…just hire someone to do the driveway for you. You can always watch from the window as you drink some hot cocoa.

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The SHOCKING Truth Behind AEDs

AED philips heart start

You’ve seen them around. In the metal wall containers in subway stations, in malls and community centres…AEDs are everywhere. Why? Because they work. When your heart needs it, along with effective CPR, an AED can save your life by kickstarting your heart back to normal. To understand how, you have to know a bit about how your heart works.

Your Heart is a Muscle

It’s about the size of your fist and is in the upper left side of your chest (just off the centre). And your heart has an incredibly important function. It pumps blood to all areas of your body. But not just blood. In that reddish liquid is oxygen that each one of your cells need. As well as all the nutrients, energy, antibodies, pretty much everything necessary for your body to survive. Without your heart pumping these things throughout our body (and our brain), our body would just stop working…and quite frankly, we would die.popping up everywhere. Soon in restaurants too. And there is good reason. AEDs save lives.

But the heart keeps pumping. All day, all night. Sometimes it speeds up, sometimes it slows down, but as long as it keeps pumping, we are in pretty good shape.

Your Heart is Electrical

Like all of your muscles, the signal that contracts the muscle fibres of the heart is, in a way, self-electrocuting at a specific rhythm, so that the parts of the heart contract in just the right way. The contraction starts at the top of the heart…and the left and right atria contract. This sends blood rushing down into the ventricles, the larger chambers of the heart. Then the ventricles the contract and send the blood rushing out of the heart…some of the blood goes to the lungs to get some more oxygen (and release CO2), and the rest gets pumped to the rest of the body.

But what is very important is this rhythm. The atria, then the ventricles, the atria, then the ventricles, and so on. And at the right pace so that the atria and ventricles have a chance to fill back up between contractions. When the electrical pattern gets messy and disorganized, we get into trouble because the heart does not effectively pump the blood around the body. Another word for this ‘messy’ electrical activity is called: FIBRILLATION.

And this is where AED comes in:

AED = Automatic External Defibrillator

AED’s specific purpose is to DEfibrillate the heart. It does this by giving the heart a jolt of electricity that resets the ‘internal pacemaker’ of the heart back into a normal sinus rhythm. AEDs are incredibly easy to use. You just apply the sticky pads to the person’s body as it’s shown on the machine, turn it on and step back. The AED automatically analyzes the person’s heart electrical activity and will either recommend, or not recommend a shock. If a shock is recommended, the AED will charge and tell you when it’s ready to shock, which you, as the rescuer do by pushing the red, flashing button.

AEDs are now more affordable than ever. If either you, or someone you love have a heart condition or is at elevated risk for arrhythmia (irregular heart rhythm) or cardiac arrest, you may want to consider having a home AED machine just in case. If it was needed, the quicker it is applied, the higher the chances it will save your life. Having an AED on site decreases the delay that could be fatal for someone in need.

Check out First Aid Canada’s line of Philips HeartStart AEDs for the best AEDs on the market: www.firstaidcanada.com/aed.

And nothing goes better with AED than CPR…all First Aid Canada’s CPR and First Aid courses incorporate AED training into the curriculum. Customers who purchase a Philips HeartStart AED from First Aid Canada are eligible for a 10% on all CPR/First Aid Courses (6-10 participants). 

Life is Precious. Be Prepared.