The term “Heart Attack” isn’t used in medicine. It has no specific meaning
We are here to treat a cardiac arrest. That is when the heart stops circulating blood around the body
The cause may be one of four different heart arrhythmia’s
Pulseless Electrical Activity
Asystole
Ventricular Tachycardia
Ventricular Fibrillation
We are only interested in the last two only when using a defibrillator
Defibrillation is the delivery of an electrical shock to the heart
It “stuns” the heart and hopefully allows it to restart in the correct sequence
Defibrillation is the only treatment for VF/VT
It must be delivered within a few minutes
