Cardiac arrest is when the heart stops beating. It is a medical emergency that, without immediate medical intervention, will result in cardiac death within minutes. When it happens suddenly, it is called sudden cardiac arrest. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and possibly defibrillation are needed until further treatment can be provided. Cardiac arrest results in a rapid loss of consciousness, and breathing may be abnormal or absent.
Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is an emergency procedure consisting of chest compressions often combined with artificial ventilation in an effort to manually preserve intact brain function until further measures are taken to restore spontaneous blood circulation and breathing in a person who is in cardiac arrest. It is recommended in those who are unresponsive with no breathing or abnormal breathing, for example, agonal respirations.
Coon Rapids is a northern suburb of Minneapolis, and is the largest city in Anoka County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 63,599 at the 2020 census, making it the fifteenth largest city in Minnesota and the seventh largest Twin Cities suburb.
Advanced cardiac life support, advanced cardiovascular life support (ACLS) refers to a set of clinical guidelines for the urgent and emergent treatment of life-threatening cardiovascular conditions that will cause or have caused cardiac arrest, using advanced medical procedures, medications, and techniques. ACLS expands on Basic Life Support (BLS) by adding recommendations on additional medication and advanced procedure use to the CPR guidelines that are fundamental and efficacious in BLS. ACLS is practiced by advanced medical providers including physicians, some nurses and paramedics; these providers are usually required to hold certifications in ACLS care.
Defibrillation is a treatment for life-threatening cardiac arrhythmias, specifically ventricular fibrillation (V-Fib) and non-perfusing ventricular tachycardia (V-Tach). A defibrillator delivers a dose of electric current to the heart. Although not fully understood, this process depolarizes a large amount of the heart muscle, ending the arrhythmia. Subsequently, the body's natural pacemaker in the sinoatrial node of the heart is able to re-establish normal sinus rhythm. A heart which is in asystole (flatline) cannot be restarted by a defibrillator, but would be treated by cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR).
A do-not-resuscitate order (DNR), also known as Do Not Attempt Resuscitation (DNAR), Do Not Attempt Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (DNACPR), no code or allow natural death, is a medical order, written or oral depending on country, indicating that a person should not receive cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) if that person's heart stops beating. Sometimes these decisions and the relevant documents also encompass decisions around other critical or life-prolonging medical interventions. The legal status and processes surrounding DNR orders vary from country to country. Most commonly, the order is placed by a physician based on a combination of medical judgement and patient involvement.
An automated external defibrillator (AED) is a portable electronic device that automatically diagnoses the life-threatening cardiac arrhythmias of ventricular fibrillation (VF) and pulseless ventricular tachycardia, and is able to treat them through defibrillation, the application of electricity which stops the arrhythmia, allowing the heart to re-establish an effective rhythm.
Basic life support (BLS) is a level of medical care which is used for patients with life-threatening illnesses or injuries until they can be given full medical care by advanced life support providers. It can be provided by trained medical personnel, such as emergency medical technicians, and by qualified bystanders.
The Seattle & King County Emergency Medical Services System is a fire-based two-tier response system providing prehospital basic and advanced life support services.
Advanced Life Support (ALS) is a set of life saving protocols and skills that extend basic life support to further support the circulation and provide an open airway and adequate ventilation (breathing).
Allina Health is a not-for-profit health care system based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. It owns or operates 12 hospitals and more than 90 clinics throughout Minnesota and western Wisconsin. Its subsidiary, Allina Medical Transportation, covers eight regions and over 80 communities providing medical dispatch, 911 pre-arrival instructions, and emergency and non-emergency ambulance service.
Midtown Phillips is a neighborhood within the Phillips community in Minneapolis. Its boundaries are East 24th Street to the north, Bloomington Avenue to the east, East Lake Street to the south, and Chicago Avenue to the west.
The chain of survival refers to a series of actions that, properly executed, reduce the mortality associated with sudden cardiac arrest. Like any chain, the chain of survival is only as strong as its weakest link. The six interdependent links in the chain of survival are early recognition of sudden cardiac arrest and access to emergency medical care, early CPR, early defibrillation, early advanced cardiac life support, and physical and emotional recovery. The first three links in the chain can be performed by lay bystanders, while the second three links are designated to medical professionals. Currently, between 70 and 90% of cardiac arrest patients die before they reach the hospital. However, a cardiac arrest does not have to be lethal if bystanders can take the right steps immediately.
Mercy General Hospital is a not-for-profit private community hospital located in the East Sacramento neighborhood of Sacramento, CA. The hospital has 342 beds and over 2,000 clinical staff, and serves as the major Cardiac Surgery referral center for the Greater Sacramento Service Area Dignity Hospitals, as well as for Kaiser Permanente. The Mercy Heart Institute and the Mercy Stroke Center are key features of the hospital. It is a member of the Dignity Health network.
Lazarus syndrome, also known as autoresuscitation after failed cardiopulmonary resuscitation, is the spontaneous return of a normal cardiac rhythm after failed attempts at resuscitation. It is also the spontaneous return of cardiac activity after pronounced dead. Its occurrence has been noted in medical literature at least 38 times since 1982. It takes its name from Lazarus who, according to the New Testament, was raised from the dead by Jesus.
United Hospital, located in St. Paul, Minnesota, is a 556-bed non-profit hospital that serves St. Paul and the eastern Twin Cities metropolitan area. United Hospital is part of Allina Health and offers specialty services including pregnancy care, birth center, behavioral health, cancer care, heart and vascular services, orthopedics and neuroscience. The hospital provides health care services to more than 200,000 people each year. United Hospital is the main hospital for the United Heart and Vascular Clinic.
The Courage Kenny Rehabilitation Institute is a rehabilitation medicine institute in Minneapolis, United States.
PulsePoint is a 911-connected mobile app that allows users to view and receive alerts on calls being responded to by fire departments and emergency medical services. The app's main feature, and where its name comes from, is that it sends alerts to users at the same time that dispatchers are sending the call to emergency crews. The goal is to increase the possibility that a victim in cardiac arrest will receive cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) quickly. The app uses the current location of a user and will alert them if someone in their vicinity is in need of CPR. The app, which interfaces with the local government public safety answering point, will send notifications to users only if the victim is in a public place and only to users that are in the immediate vicinity of the emergency. In February 2017, PulsePoint introduced a professional version called Verified Responder that also alerts in residential settings. Based in the San Francisco Bay Area, PulsePoint is run by a public 501(c)(3) non-profit foundation of the same name. As of January 30, 2020, the foundation reported that connected agencies had requested the assistance of 350,000 nearby responders for 100,000 cardiac arrest events.
"PulsePoint is a 501(c)(3) public non-profit foundation building applications that help public safety agencies inform and engage their citizens."
The Singapore Heart Foundation (SHF), formerly known as the Singapore National Heart Association (SNHA), is a registered Charity and Institution of a Public Character (IPC) in Singapore. It aims to promote heart health, prevent and reduce disability and death due to cardiovascular diseases and stroke.
