ThermoSuit for Cardiac Arrest Patients

When a person has been revived after cardiac arrest but is still unconscious, cooling the body is the first thing done by emergency staff. Reducing the body temperature would improve the patient's chance for a full recovery. Blowing cold air over the body or using ice packs can take hours to work effectively.

Now, there is a product called a ThermoSuit that can reduce a person's body temperature in about 30 minutes. The product is a plastic suit that is filled with cold water. There are medical centers that are currently using it and say that the survival rate of their cardiac arrest patients has risen from 35 percent to 60 to 70 percent.

Hands Only CPR Now Recommended for Cardiac Arrest

The American Heart Association is now recommending that the hands-only CPR approach be used on adults who have a cardiac arrest. To do this procedure, a person would do rapid and deep presses on the victim’s chest until help arrives and mouth-to-mouth breathing would not have to be done. It suppose to work as well as the standard CPR practices.

If there is a person needing immediate medical attention for risk of cardiac arrest you would call 911 and then press hard and fast on the middle of the person’s chest until paramedics arrive and take over or an automated external defibrillator is available to restore a normal heart rhythm. These actions should only be taken for adults that unexpectedly collapse, stop breathing, and are unresponsive.

Doing mouth-to-mouth breathing is recommended for a child that collapses and adults that suffer from not enough oxygen from near-drowning, drug overdose, and carbon monoxide poisoning. In these situations, mouth-to-mouth is needed to get air into the lungs and bloodstream.

The Worst Times to be in a Hospital

It is recommended that the best time to have cardiac arrest is during normal workday hours because you will have a better chance of surviving. In every part of a hospital, excluding the emergency room, hospital staff working the night shift are more tired, less experienced, and fewer in number. These things cause a slower response time when a person needs urgent assistance.

If urgent care is needed for a cardiac arrest patient before 11 p.m., the patient has a 20 percent chance of surviving and being discharged from the hospital. If care is needed after 11 p.m., the patient has less than a 15 percent chance of surviving and being discharged. A similar effect is also seen on weekends.

New Medical Treatment for Heart Attacks

It is assumed that if a person is not revived 5 minutes after having cardiac arrest that they are basically dead. Researchers have found that if the body of a person that had cardiac arrest is cooled by several degrees after the heart has stopped beating, the person could survive for up to 15 minutes instead of 5 minutes. Doctors are starting to use cooling blankets that circulate icy water to reduce brain damage and revive people that didn’t have a heart beat for up to 15 minutes. Researchers are trying to develop icy injectable slurry that lowers body temperature within seconds and emergency workers can use it on the spot.