The catastrophic effects of brain damage can prove fatal in a short amount of time.
The American Heart Association reports that more than 356,000 out-of-hospitalcardiac arrestsoccur in the United States each year.
Nearly 90% of them are fatal.
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It also looks at problems that arise when blood flow begins again in tissues that are damaged.
Effects of Cardiac Arrest on the Brain
A person becomes unconscious quickly during cardiac arrest.
This usually happens within 20 seconds after the heart stops beating.
This can lead to ahypoxic-anoxicinjury (HAI).
In general, the more complete the oxygen loss, the more severe the harm to the brain.
With cardiac arrest, all parts of the brain that rely on blood flow are affected by its failure.
An injury brought on by anoxia is called anoxic brain injury.
Among the parts of the brain most vulnerable to injury is the temporal lobe, where memories are stored.
Timeline
When cardiac arrest occurs, cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) must be started within two minutes.
Effective CPR, if started immediately with a witnessed arrest can have positive outcomes.
By nine minutes of delay, severe and permanent brain damage is likely.
After 10 minutes, the chances of survival are low.
Simply put, the longer the brain is deprived of oxygen, the worse the damage will be.
It is rare for someone to be in a coma for longer than two to four weeks.
Brain damage becomes more likely the longer that a person is in a coma.
If you haven’t learned CPR recently, things have changed.
They are found in many workplaces, sports arenas, and other public places.
When a cardiac arrest is treated very quickly, a person may recover with no signs of injury.
Others may have mild to severe damage.
Others, however, may be lasting and require lifelong assisted care.
Never delay starting CPR with quality compressions, and calling for help, which includes a defibrillator and EMS.
Recovery will often be incomplete and slow, taking weeks to months.
Unfortunately, those with UWS due to lack of oxygen more often don’t.
Reperfusion is necessary, but it has to be done methodically and in a highly controlled way.
That’s because the sudden rush of blood to areas of damaged tissues can cause injury.
It may seem counterintuitive because restarting the flow of blood is the critical goal.
Other factors include any pre-existing conditions affecting the brain and cardiovascular system.
Brain damage will begin in a matter of minutes because of the lack of oxygen.
It’s important to act quickly to restart the heart and limit these catastrophic effects.
Every second counts if someone suddenly collapses in front of you and stops breathing.
You may buy enough time until the paramedics arrive to restart the heart.
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