Out Of Hospital Cardiac Arrest (OHCA): Procrastination Is The Thief Of Time

OHCA: LEADING CAUSE OF DEATH AMONG ADULTS.

Cardiac arrest or said to be one’s worst nightmare due to it’s unpredictable nature is one of the major causes of deaths globally. Not to exaggerate, but sudden cardiac arrest survival rate remains dismally low with high disparity.

Out of hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) refers to the malfunctioning of the mechanical function of the heart resulting in the absence or loss of systemic circulation.

Apparently, it is the clinical death of a person (with no blood pressure or pulse) which consequently leads to the biological or actual death of the individual.

Approximately only 10% of the people who receive CPR are snatched back to life.

PROCRASTINATION IS THE THIEF OF TIME:

As I see it, this line of Charles Dickens,“ Procrastination is the thief of time” from David Copperfield, best describes the situation of measures taken for OHCA in our country or not wrong if I say worldly. 

It was in the 1960s that the CPR was first introduced and till this date the viability counts to 10% only. The rest 90% who could be saved woefully became the victims of slow recognition of efficacious impression of the CPR.

Usually, it is the underlying coronary artery disease that leads to the sudden cardiac arrest which further affects the perfusion causing cell death within a matter of minutes. Hence, in this ‘time is money’ kind of situation the time of initiation of the CPR is the most crucial factor.

CAN WE DO BETTER?

The unforeseeable nature of OHCA makes it a distinctive medical emergency. Perhaps, the only medical situation with an imperative reliance on the community.

The only way to make a rise in the survival rate is for the basic academic of CPR to be taught to the bystanders as it is the “time buyer” of the current state before the resuscitation can be provided. 

-ANOOSHA KHAN,    DPT.