Precursors of sudden death and “golden time” for first aid of sudden death

White-collar workers are under high work pressure, un-balanced lifestyle, sedentary schedule, smoking, drinking, staying up late, and irregular diet. More importantly, many white-collar workers often have coronary artery spasm and myocardial infarction due to high mental stress or excessive anxiety.

People who often need to stay up late and go to night shifts are high-risk groups of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, and cases of “death from overwork” occur frequently. For athletes engaged in strength sports, the basic causes of sudden sports-related death are mainly cardiomyopathy, early coronary heart disease and coronary artery malformations. In addition, patients with family history of heart disease, high blood pressure, hyperlipidemia, diabetes, metabolic syndrome, obesity, and kidney disease are more likely to have cardiovascular and cerebrovascular problems when mood swings are greater.

Before a heart attack, the body parts such as the neck, back, scalp, and palms will sweat a lot. People should be vigilant and beware of sudden cardiac death when these precursors appear. If symptoms such as chest tightness and suffocation occur continuously without causes such as vigorous exercise, lack of sleep, or illness, heart problems should be considered. Heart disease patients often feel pain in the shoulders, neck, jaw, and arms, which are signs of myocardial ischemia. The typical symptom before a heart attack is a sudden and unprovoked heartbeat. Once a ventricular tachycardia occurs, the patient is very likely to die suddenly in a short time.

People having sudden death is difficult to save themselves, but can be saved by others. When a cardiac arrest occurs, if the patient can receive cardiopulmonary resuscitation a few minutes before the arrival of emergency personnel, the survival rate will be greatly improved. However, because people do not understand the relevant first aid knowledge, it is easy to miss the first 4–6 minutes, the “golden time” for first aid.

The first step is to dial “999” for emergency help. In the second step, the patient’s head should be raised by the lower jaw, and tilted to one side to allow the vomit to flow out as much as possible and keep the airway unobstructed. Dentures of the patient, if there are, should be removed to avoid the risk of convulsions. The third step is to do effective heart compressions. The fourth step is to implement electrical defibrillation as soon as possible if the patient develops ventricular fibrillation.