The longest time someone has been cardiac arrest and successfully revived and fully recovered is 17 hours. The record is held by Velma Thomas from West Virginia US.
The longest time spent in cardiac arrest – with full neurological recovery – is 8 hours 42 minutes in the case of a 31-year-old mountain climber identified only as "Roberto", who required medical assistance during his attempt to climb the face of Marmolada in the Italian Dolomites on 26 August 2017.
Effective CPR, if started immediately with a witnessed arrest can have positive outcomes. By nine minutes of delay, severe and permanent brain damage is likely. After 10 minutes, the chances of survival are low.
The longest time that heart activity continued after restarting was 27 minutes, but most restarts lasted just one to two seconds. None of the patients we observed survived or regained consciousness. We also found it was common for the heart to continue to show electrical activity long after blood flow or pulse stopped.
An Italian mountaineer has survived what is believed to be the longest CPR attempt without extra life support when a team worked on the man for almost six hours.
CPR Saves Lives.
Currently, about 9 in 10 people who have cardiac arrest outside the hospital die. But CPR can help improve those odds. If it is performed in the first few minutes of cardiac arrest, CPR can double or triple a person's chance of survival.
While CPR might have only a 2% chance of working on its own, a combination of CPR, EMS care, and hospital care can raise that survival rate to 40%.
Is sudden cardiac death painful? Some people have chest pain during the initial seconds of sudden cardiac arrest. However, once you lose consciousness, you don't feel pain.
Is cardiac arrest painful? Some people have chest pain before they become unconscious from cardiac arrest. However, you won't feel pain once you lose consciousness.
For most people, the first sign of SCA is fainting or a loss of consciousness, which happens when the heart stops beating. Breathing may also stop at this time. Some people may experience dizziness or lightheadedness just before they faint.
The shock is usually delivered through paddles that are placed on the patient's chest. This procedure is called Defibrillation. Sometimes, if the heart is stopped completely, the heart will restart itself within a few seconds and return to a normal electrical pattern.
[26][27] This recommendation has led to many departments implementing rules for termination of resuscitation that include providing at least 20 minutes of on-scene CPR. [28] Also, EMS agencies must have active physician oversight when making protocols and must consider the providers' training.
Velma Thomas' 17-hour "miracle" was "one of the things that physicians and nurses can't always explain," her doctor said at the time. Velma Thomas, an American citizen, is the holder of an unusual world record. In 2008, Thomas suffered a cardiac arrest at her Virginia home.
Contrary to previous notions that brain cells die within 5 to 10 minutes, evidence now suggests that if left alone, the cells of the brain die slowly over a period of many hours, even days after the heart stops and a person dies.
Hiss heart had stopped beating for what is an eternity in matters of the heart, 96 minutes. But suddenly, Snitzer's life and the lives of more than 20 others changed in a heartbeat. One last injection, one last electric shock and 20 pairs of hands had somehow beaten the odds.
The study suggests CPR can keep blood circulating for up to 30 minutes without brain damage. For every minute without CPR, survival from witnessed ventricular fibrillation cardiac arrest decreases by 7–10%.
All of a sudden you just collapse. If the sudden cardiac arrest is preceded by something else first, say you had a heart attack or you had some type of irregular heartbeat that was sustained, you might feel a fluttering in your chest or you might feel lightheaded or dizzy or pass out.
Sudden cardiac arrest may occur if the heart arteries become clogged with cholesterol and other deposits, reducing blood flow to the heart. Heart attack. If a heart attack occurs, often as a result of severe coronary artery disease, it can trigger ventricular fibrillation and sudden cardiac arrest.
You may have the feeling that your heart stops beating for a moment, and then starts again with a "thump" or a "bang". Usually this feeling is caused by an extra beat (premature beat or extrasystole) that happens earlier than the next normal beat, and results in a pause until the next normal beat comes through.
When that happens, blood stops flowing to the brain and other vital organs. If it is not treated, SCA usually causes death within minutes.
Your body stiffens, first, at your face and neck. The stiffening progresses to the trunk of your body and gradually radiates outward to your arms and legs and then your fingers and toes. Your body loosens again. A few days after death, your body's tissue breaks down, causing the stiff parts to relax again.
Researchers have known for decades that CPR can cause patients to break their ribs and other bones. Even a seemingly routine cardiac arrest can result in broken ribs, as the way that CPR is performed puts great force on the chest cavity. CPR is a life-saving technique that should not be taken lightly.
The physicians and scientists at the Sarver Heart Center, have found that the old saying "Never perform CPR on beating heart" is not valid. According to these professionals, the chances that a bystander could harm a person by pressing on their chest are slim to none, even if the heart is working normally.
Although CPR seems to be a procedure that involves a degree of violent compressions and depending on the age of the person, may lead to cracked or bruised ribs, it is important to note that pain is mostly registered only if a person is conscious to feel it.
Researchers suspect sleep apnea causes abnormal heart rhythms, which lead to sudden cardiac death, for a number of reasons. “Sleep apnea may lower oxygen levels, activate the fight-or-flight response and change pressure in the chest when the upper airway closes, stressing the heart mechanically,” he explains.