
Q: Sudden cardiac arrest is not a heart attack. How are they different?
Marla Ahlgrimm: Sudden cardiac arrest happens when the heart starts beating very fast and quivers instead of beating in a regular and organized way. As a result, very little or no blood gets pumped to the rest of the body and brain. A heart attack results from plaque buildup in the arteries that support blood flow to the heart. The plaque stops blood flow to certain areas of the heart, causing the heart muscle to die.
Q: What happens to a person experiencing cardiac arrest?
Marla Ahlgrimm: A person experiencing sudden cardiac arrest can lose consciousness quickly and if health professionals don’t reverse what caused the heart to do that, a person can die within six minutes.