What is Cardiac arrest?

Cardiac arrest

What is a cardiac arrest?

When someone has a cardiac arrest, their heart stops pumping. This means blood doesn't flow around their body and oxygen doesn't reach their brain and other organs. If a person's heart stops pumping for more than a few minutes, they are unlikely to recover.

To understand what happens during a cardiac arrest, it helps to know a little bit about the heart. To read more, see How your heart works.

Cardiac arrest is a medical emergency that needs to be treated immediately.

Before a person has a cardiac arrest, their heart beats abnormally. Two things can happen.

Source:
Lang ES, Al Raisi M.
Ventricular tachyarrhythmias (out of hospital cardiac arrests). July 2006. Clinical Evidence. (Based on May 2006 search)
July 2006. Available at http://clinicalevidence.bmj.com/ceweb/conditions/cvd/0216/0216.jsp (accessed on 11 February 2009).

Their heart beats fast (150 to 200 beats a minute) and the beats start in the lower chambers (ventricles) of the heart, instead of the upper chambers. Doctors call this pulseless ventricular tachycardia.
Their heart beats very fast (more than 300 beats a minute) and very irregularly. The beats start in the ventricles, instead of the upper chambers. Doctors call this ventricular fibrillation.

If a person's heart beats like this, blood isn't pumped to their lungs, the rest of their body, and back to their heart. This is a cardiac arrest. It's a dangerous medical emergency that needs urgent treatment.

A cardiac arrest isn't the same thing as a heart attack. Heart attacks happen when a blood clot blocks the flow of blood to the heart. However, a heart attack can lead to cardiac arrest.

You are more likely to have a cardiac arrest if:

You have

heart disease
You get heart disease when your heart isn't able to pump blood as well as it should. This can happen for a variety of reasons.

heart disease
You've had a heart attack
You have

heart failure
When the heart loses its ability to push enough blood through the circulation, it is called heart failure.

heart failure
You're middle aged or older
You're a man.

Sources for the information on this page:

Lang ES, Al Raisi M.Ventricular tachyarrhythmias (out of hospital cardiac arrests). July 2006. Clinical Evidence. (Based on May 2006 search)July 2006. Available at http://clinicalevidence.bmj.com/ceweb/conditions/cvd/0216/0216.jsp (accessed on 11 February 2009).

This information was last updated on Mar 06, 2009

This information is for educational use only, and is not a substitute for prompt professional medical advice. Readers should always consult a physician or other professional for advice and treatment.
© BMJ Publishing Group Limited 2009. All rights reserved.

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