What it Looks Like: Cardiac Arrest

Conclusion It’s heavy work watching these sorts of videos but it’s important for what we do. Prompt recognition of cardiac arrest is the first link in the Chain of Survival and early CPR and defibrillation are absolutely vital to achieving good outcomes for these patients. Here’s a few final take-home points: Sudden cardiac arrest is just that—sudden—and can occur without warning. It is surprisingly difficult to differentiate seizures from early cardiac arrest. Sudden cardiac arrest that self-resolves is called syncope (H/T to Amal Mattu). It is nearly impossible to distinguish benign syncope from cardiac arrest until the patient recovers and a thorough history, examination, and workup can be performed. Any patient presenting with syncope or seizure needs, at the minimum, an EKG.  
Source: EMS 12-Lead - Category: Cardiology Authors: Tags: Original Articles Source Type: research