
It’s a common misconception that sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) and heart attack are the same thing. In reality, they are quite different. Understanding the difference could save your life—or the life of someone you love.
Heart attack (the medical term is myocardial infarction or MI) occurs when part of the heart’s blood supply is reduced or blocked, causing the heart muscle to become injured or die. The person is awake (conscious) and may complain of one or more of the signs and symptoms of heart attack.
Most heart attacks involve discomfort in the center of the chest that lasts more than a few minutes or that goes away and comes back.
First Year Data from the SCA Survivor Registry,™ An Initiative of the Sudden Cardiac Arrest Foundation
May 15, 2008 – PITTSBURGH – One year ago, the Sudden Cardiac Arrest Foundation launched the SCA Survivor Registry™, the nation’s first online registry for people who suffered sudden cardiac arrest (SCA)—and lived to tell about it. Information submitted by 171 registrants offers a glimpse into the small community of rare individuals who beat the odds and survived this national killer.
A review of information about survivors in the registry, released at Heart Rhythm 2008 in San Francisco, shows: