Heart Attack or Cardiac Arrest?

The media often uses the terms heart attack and cardiac arrest interchangeably, but they are not the same things. One is a plumbing issue, and one is an electrical issue.

A heart attack is a disease state resulting from a plumbing obstruction that cuts off blood supply to the heart muscle. When that happens, the heart muscle starts to die. The generated symptoms are chest pain, shortness of breath and sweating. The remainder of the heart continues to beat, but it constitutes a medical emergency. The patient is usually conscious and in distress. If you witness anyone with these symptoms, call 911.

Cardiac arrest, on the other hand, is an electrical problem that requires immediate intervention. The heart stops contracting systematically as it’s supposed to. It goes into an irregular rhythm, known as ventricular fibrillation, and is incapable of pumping blood to the brain. Typically, the patient begins to lose consciousness and has no pulse. During this medical emergency, you would begin CPR, call 911 and try to locate an automated external defibrillator (AED) to restart the regular rhythm.

Simply put, a heart attack is one of many diseases that can cause cardiac arrest.