Sudden Cardiac Arrest

Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA), also called Sudden Cardiac Death (SCD), occurs when the lower chambers of the heart, called ventricles, stop beating normally and start quivering very quickly and chaotic. This is called ventricular fibrillation or VF. When the ventricles fibrillate, they do not contract normally, making it difficult to pump blood or oxygen to the body. Often, VF can become so erratic that it can result in SCA. If SCA is not corrected immediately via a shock from an external defibrillator or an implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD), there is little chance of survival.

According to the European Society of Cardiology, SCA is the single most important cause of death among adults of the industrialized world. The American Heart Association states that everyday in the U.S., almost 900 people experience Sudden Cardiac Arrest – that’s more than 325,000 people a year. If an individual is not treated within four to six minutes from the onset of SCA, the results can be fatal.

SCA usually occurs without any warning. However, symptoms include sudden collapse, loss of consciousness, abnormal breathing, an inability to find a pulse and loss of blood pressure.