While most are aware that heart disease is a serious issue, they do not necessarily know that it is actually the number three killer of Americans. The Institute of Medicine recently came out with new statistics.

CBS news reports on your odds of surviving a heart attack. Could you survive heart failure and what should you do to prevent it?

“The survival rate outside a hospital is just six percent and even when a patient is treated by first responders, only 11 percent survive,” according to CBS news.

One sixty-two year old man who had sudden cardiac arrest told CBS about his experience. He said that two bystanders started CPR and within three to five minutes, the police arrived with a defibrillator and shocked his heart. He also said that he was lucky to be in the right place at the right time.

What can help Americans survive heart attacks?

How important is CPR training?

The report from The Institute of Medicine showed that annually, less than three percent of the U.S. population receives CPR training and defibrillators are used by bystanders in just four percent of non-hospital cardiac arrests. These tools could help people survive heart attacks more.

Dr. Clifton Callaway, vice-chairman of emergency medicine at University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, commented on the new reports. He said,

“The number one priority is to be giving them chest compressions so that you're circulating the blood for them. There are videos that can teach you in less than two minutes the basic steps that you need to know that could help double a chance of somebody surviving a sudden cardiac arrest.”

CBS News chief medical correspondent Dr. Jon LaPook also commented on what people should do in the event of a heart attack and what bystanders should do. He said that people are afraid of hurting someone and that if somebody goes down with cardiac arrest and you are a bystander, you might be their best chance for surviving a heart attack.

Dr. Lapook also said that even in the chance, unfortunately that the person dies, that the resuscitation is not successful – ‘and I've been in that situation with families’, at least the families have the peace of mind of knowing that their loved one had a shot, someone tried to save their family member. “They do not have to go the rest of their lives thinking 'what if’,” according to LaPook.

The American Heart Association actually has videos on their website that teach a person how to perform CPR.

Websites such as www.parentheartwatch.org also show how to decrease the effects of cardiac arrest in youth.

Read the source article here.

Gerry Oginski
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NY Medical Malpractice & Personal Injury Trial Lawyer
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