Scary Facts about Heart Failure, Sudden Cardiac Arrest, and CPR

o About 870,000 people in the US die out of the hospital each year from heart related issues - #1 cause of death in the US

o Over 37% die from Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA) – 900 per day

o SCA is the sudden failure of the heart to pump effectively, usually without warning

o With SCA, you immediately collapse (5-10 seconds) & stop breathing

o With SCA, brain death starts in 4-6 min

o UNLESS CPR and defibrillation is provided, the victim will likely die

o The survival rate for SCA victims is 6%

o The city of Seattle has increased its survival rate by about 50% by teaching its citizens bystander CPR

o The Temple CPR Task Force with its sponsoring partners seek to have 10% of the non-medical Temple population (6,000 people) trained in bystander CPR by 2010

o 75-80% of SCA events happen in the home. By learning CPR, you or your family members can Save A Life---Like Yours!

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Last revised: 4/27/2008