OHCA – Out of hospital cardiac arrest

“If there’s a doctor on board please make yourself known” said the air hostess. Wearing headphones I couldn’t hear properly, but the stressful environment was enough to tell me what had just happened!. A 50 year old man collapsed on the floor of the plane, was not responding to any sound or touch, neither his heart was beating and nor he was breathing. A man in his late thirties rushed towards the old man recognising himself as a cardiac doctor. Checked if the airways were blocked or not and started chest compressions, using a defibrillator (AED). He continued until emergency landing occurred and the ambulance arrived. Luckily the elderly man seemed half conscious as well

Anxious as well as fascinated  by the scene made me wonder how much CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) is important in our lives and especially for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA).     A cardiac arrest is when your heart stops beating. This means that your brain and vital organs are starved of oxygen; you become unconscious and stop breathing or do not breathe normally. A cardiac arrest is a medical emergency. It can occur at any time, at any age, to people of all fitness level without warning. Every minute counts when a person is in cardiac arrest. Without chest compressions and use of a defibrillator, a person in cardiac arrest will not survive.

On the other hand Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) is a combination of mouth-to-mouth rescue breathing and chest compressions. CPR helps to keep blood and oxygen circulating to the brain of a person whose heart has stopped beating, until the heart can be restarted. CPR alone does not restore a normal heart rhythm. 8 in 10 cardiac arrest are OHCA . 1 in 10 survive cardiac arrests that happen at home or at public places. Our immediate action can double the chance of surviving. Don’t wait for someone else to step in.

Seconds matter, take a lead, start immediately.

Written by : Noor Zehra, KMDC MBBS’26