Heart Attack First Aid
Alternate Names : First Aid - Cardiac Arrest, First Aid - Cardiopulmonary Arrest, First Aid - Heart Attack
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Heart Attack First Aid: Causes
In adults, causes of heart attack include clot formation or spasm in one of the arteries that supply blood to the heart muscle. These and other similar conditions block the supply of blood and oxygen to an area of the heart, leading to damage or death of the cells in that area. Most often, this occurs in an artery that has been narrowed from changes related to hardening of the arteries (atherosclerosis).
Other causes for cardiac arrest may include drowning, suffocation, electrical shock, severe allergic reaction (anaphylaxis), drug overdose, and trauma.
Babies and children rarely suffer heart attacks. Atherosclerotic heart disease is extremely rare in infants and children. The primary cause for cardiac arrest in children is a preceeding respiratory arrest (cessation of breathing). This may occur for a number of reasons including drowning, suffocation, electrical shock, illness, poisoning, and inhaling or swallowing a foreign object (foreign body aspiration).
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