The heart has always been considered as one of the vital organs of the body. One wrong beat and it can already spell a disaster for the person. After all, it is the heart that controls how efficient the whole circulatory system is. That being the case, it is only understandable that medical professionals put extra effort in making sure that it functions properly. Now, in order to understand the importance of the heart, one must first understand how it functions.
The Anatomy of the Heart
The heart is considered to be a hollow muscle, hardly the size of a fist, which is divided into four chambers. Two of these chambers can be found at the right side of the heart, while the other two occupy the left side. The upper chambers are known as the atria, and the lower chambers are the ventricles. Now, leading to the right atrium are two major veins – the superior vena cava and the inferior vena cava. These veins carry blood TO the heart FROM all of the blood vessels in the body. Since the blood that flows through these veins have low oxygen content and high carbon dioxide level, the blood tends to be dark red in color. This blood then passes through the tricuspid valve and then travels to the right ventricle. The blood travels further passing through all of the chambers of the heart as well as various blood vessels including those that can be found in the lungs. There the blood gets to be oxygenated. It then travels an opposite path, passing through the heart again, and the aorta where it gets expelled to various blood vessels. Now, the oxygen in the blood gets “fed” to the various organs of the body. Without the said oxygen, the cells would die and the organ would suffer from tissue necrosis. When this happens, the organ would not be able to function properly causing a domino effect of organ failures. Without intervention, the person could die.
“Rebooting” the Heart
In some cases, a heart’s regular pattern can become disrupted. This can be due to an existing heart condition or could be due to some other reasons. A skip or two is usually something that you do not have to worry about. However, this becomes a problem if the irregular pattern continues or if the heart stops beating altogether. The latter is typically known as the Sudden Cardiac Arrest. Because of its nature, SCA (Sudden Cardiac Arrest) could lead to the person’s death if not attended to immediately. Fortunately, there a number of ways by which one can deal with this.
The use of AED as well as the application of CPR are just some of the ways by which medical professionals and ordinary persons can deal with a person suffering from such heart conditions as the Sudden Cardiac Arrest. AED, or Automated External Defibrillator, is a portable device that can be used in order to help the heart regain its natural rhythm. Regardless of the model and brand, the AED includes an electronic console, two pads, and wires that lead from the console to the pads.
If you want to learn about the proper use of the AED as well as secure a CPR certification, you can always head to Citywide CPR.
