Sudden Cardiac Arrest & Defibrillation
Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA) claims around 150000 lives per year in
the UK, with survival out of the Hospital being less than 5%.
Around 90% of victims who collapse due to SCA out
of the Hospital, present with a heart rhythm called Ventricular
Fibrillation (VF) - a chaotic rhythm that makes the heart quiver
rather than beat, and therefore stops the heart from being able
to pump blood, and therefore oxygen, around the body.
Defibrillation is the only known treatment for
VF, and involves passing a large electrical charge through the heart
muscle, thereby stopping the hearts' chaotic activity (or quivering)
allowing the hearts own trigger (or pacemaker) to reset itself and
produce a more regular life sustaining beat.
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