Originally Posted by
Elwood Blues
With a heart attack the supply of blood to the heart is blocked,leading to heart muscle damage if treatment is delayed. There may be severe chest pain but the patient is likely to be conscious and breathing and able to summon help.
With a Cardiac Arrest, the heart stops completely due to a disturbance in the bodies electrical system.The patient will stop breathing and unless help is hand and CPR is started or defibrillation takes place, death will occur within a few minutes.
Only 10% of out of hospital cardiac arrests survive.
Only 7 to 8% of those who are resuscitated survive to hospital discharge.
I was one of the lucky 7 to 8%, though I spent more than 6 weeks in a coma and 4 months in hospital.