Do you know the difference between a heart attack and cardiac arrest and what should you do in each case? Many people don’t so we thought it was worth exploring in this month’s blog.

What is the difference between a heart attack and cardiac arrest?

A heart attack is caused by the coronary arteries becoming blocked and the heart is short of blood supply and as a result a lack of oxygen. The most common signs of a heart attack are:

• chest pain,
• a pain that may spread to an arm and maybe to your neck, jaw, back or stomach,
• nausea, sweating, light-headedness, and shortness of breath.

A cardiac arrest is when the heart stops pumping blood around the body and breathing is affected. The person will have collapsed and be unconscious, unresponsive and not breathing or not breathing normally.

A heart attack can cause a dangerous heart rhythm which can result in cardiac arrest and is a cause of cardiac arrest for many adults.

What to do if someone is having a heart attack or cardiac arrest

Both conditions are serious and need to be treated as emergencies and you should call 999 immediately.

In the case of a cardiac arrest, you should start CPR to keep the blood and oxygen moving in the body. You should also shout for help so that the nearest defibrillator can be located to see if it can restart the heart.

In the case of a heart attack, you should keep the person calm and comfortable whilst you wait for the ambulance to arrive. If the person is not allergic/sensitive to aspirin and older than 16, chewing an aspirin tablet (150mg/300mg) slowly may help limit the extent of damage to the heart.

Knowing what to do in an emergency situation like this is so important and administrating the right first aid is essential whilst waiting for the ambulance to arrive. And although we all hope to never need to use it, knowing how to administer CPR is a core skill we all should know as it could save someone’s life. If you want to learn more about CPR visit https://www.resus.org.uk/public-resource/how-do-cpr