The Health & Safety Institute (HSI), a leader in emergency care and response training, has published an infographic on Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA) and the only way to save a victim’s life, which is prompt CPR and use of an automated external defibrillator (AED).
In celebration of National CPR and AED Awareness Week (June 1-7), the infographic explains the difference between SCA and a heart attack. SCA always is fatal without prompt intervention. It also explains that an SCA victim only can survive without CPR and defibrillation for about 10 minutes.
According to Ted Crites, HSI director of production, the key to an SCA victim’s survival is immediate action by a witness or responder with CPR and AED training. “SCA strikes about 360,000 people annually and less than 10 percent of SCA victims survive,” he said. “Our CPR and AED training classes are designed to ensure a faster time to mitigation, which is the key to improving survival rates for SCA.”
Nationwide, response times vary, but in even the optimum situation, emergency medical technicians are unlikely to be on-site to administer CPR and defibrillation within 10 minutes.
