BLS for Healthcare Providers Tag

Three young adults died suddenly in the past year of severe heart inflammation induced by Lyme disease, a cardiac manifestation that has surprised some medical investigators. One of those deaths occurred in New York,  say federal scientists at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, who emphasized that sudden cardiac death is possible in young people infected by Lyme bacteria. Before these three Lyme-related sudden deaths, only four cases had been reported in medical history. Lyme disease was first discovered and described...

Nanci Hellmich, USA TODAY Many sudden cardiac arrests leave a calling card in advance. More than half of middle-aged men who experienced sudden cardiac arrests had symptoms up to a month beforehand, a new study shows. Most of the symptoms — including chest pain, shortness of breath, dizziness, faintness or heart palpitations — occurred four weeks to one hour before their hearts suddenly stopped, according to the research presented at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions in Dallas. Read more...

All owners of the Philips HeartStart AEDs should contact Philips Healthcare immediately at 1-800-263-3342, and select option 5 for technical support. Live technical support is available Monday – Friday, 7:00 am – 5:00 pm Pacific Time. All owners should keep the recalled HeartStart AED in service until Philips Healthcare replaces the device or you can obtain another working AED. Read More...

Sten Rubertsson, M.D., Ph.D., of Uppsala University, Sweden and colleagues assessed whether cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) in which chest compressions are delivered with a mechanical device would result in superior 4-hour survival in patients with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest compared to CPR with manual chest compression. This multicenter clinical trial, which included 2,589 patients with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, was conducted between January 2008 and February 2013 in 4 Swedish, 1 British, and 1 Dutch ambulance services and their referring hospitals. Four-hour survival was achieved...

Sweden has found a faster way to treat people experiencing cardiac emergencies through a text message and a few thousand volunteers. A program called SMSlivräddare, (or SMSLifesaver) (link in Swedish) solicits people who’ve been trained in cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). When a Stockholm resident dials 112 for emergency services, a text message is sent to all volunteers within 500 meters of the person in need. The volunteer then arrives at the location within the crucial first minutes to perform lifesaving CPR. The odds for surviving cardiac arrest...

A high resting heart rate proved to be a strong and independent predictor of cognitive decline within the next 4 years in a study of nearly 28,000 patients at high cardiovascular risk. The clinical implications of this finding, however, remain unclear, according to Dr. Darryl P. Leong. "What this study cannot answer, and which must be answered, is whether resting heart rate is just a marker of the risk of cognitive decline or whether it exists in the causal pathway. Further research...

Sudden cardiac arrest -- when your heart stops functioning because of an electrical disturbance, which can lead to death if not treated immediately with CPR or defibrillation -- is known to occur more often between the hours of 6 a.m. and 10 a.m. But why? According to new research, it could have something to do with levels of a protein called KLF15, which regulates electrical activity in the heart. Dr. Mukesh Jain, M.D., of Case Western Reserve University, and colleagues found that people...

Survival for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest is just 7%, according to research presented at ESC Congress 2013 by Professor Xavier Jouven and Dr Wulfran Bougouin from France. Professor Jouven said: "Sudden cardiac death (SCD) is an important public health problem, accounting for more than 400,000 deaths every year. The main cause is ventricular tachyarrhythmias which are often triggered by acute ischaemic events that can occur in persons with or without known heart disease. The survival rate from cardiac arrest has remained low...

A new report published in Journal of the American College of Cardiology shows that people who have sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) at a fitness facility could be more likely to survive than people who experience sudden cardiac arrest in banks, restaurants, or other indoor facilities. The researchers reviewed 849 sudden cardiac arrest cases between 1996 and 2008 at various fitness and public indoor facilities in Seattle and King County, Washington. The exercise facilities were categorized into two groups: traditional (health clubs and fitness centers) and...

Cardiopulmonary resuscitation quality varies widely between systems and locations, prompting the American Heart Association to emphasize key components to improve resuscitative efforts, according to a consensus statement published in Circulation. In the statement, the AHA emphasizes five critical areas of high-quality CPR: Minimize interruptions to chest compressions. Compressions generate blood flow and should be delivered more than 80% of the time the patient doesn’t have a pulse. Provide the right rate of compressions — 100 to 120 per minute are optimal for survival. Ensure compressions...