Cardiac Chain of Survival

The phrase Cardiac Chain of Survival> is a framework that the American Heart Association uses to describe the events that need to occur in order to increase the chances of one's survival from cardiac arrest.

In this lesson, we will be covering the Cardiac Chain of Survival. What follows after this important information is a warning of what you might expect to feel if you're ever put into a rescue situation.

The idea behind the Cardiac Chain of Survival is that every step in the chain is as critical as a link is in a chain. Perhaps you've heard that a chain is only as good as its weakest link. The same can be said for the Cardiac Chain of Survival. However, in this case, a weak link also includes any delays in moving from one link to another; delays make cardiac arrest rescue attempts more ineffective.

Cardiac Arrest Chain of Survival

The Cardiac Chain of Survival includes the following links:

1. The Recognition and Activation of Emergency Responses 
2. Early High-Quality CPR
3. Early Defibrillation
4. Advanced Resuscitation
5. Post Cardiac Arrest Care
6. Recovery and Survivorship

• The Recognition and Activation of Emergency Responses - the recognition of cardiac arrest and the activation of the emergency response system is a must do if there is any chance of survival for this victim. This actually goes further into recognizing serious medical problems that will quickly lead to cardiac arrest. Early recognition and treatment of life-threatening conditions can prevent progression to cardiac arrest and improve outcomes. Learn to recognize those early symptoms before cardiac arrest.
• Early High-Quality CPR - when CPR is performed to the best of your abilities, it significantly improves the chance of survival of the cardiac arrest. Our focus needs to be on good body mechanics to ensure adequate depth and rate for the longest possible time. Stay within the recommended compression rate, provide breaths and minimize any pauses to as short as necessary, but never more than 10 seconds.
• >Defibrillation - AED accessibility has never been better. AEDs can be usually found in schools, churches, stores, with law enforcement, fire departments, and occasionally even within the home. AEDs have been designed to be easy to use and they work! Use it as soon as it is available.
• Advanced Resuscitation - advanced resuscitation is usually by emergency medical services (EMS) personnel or within hospitals. This involves advanced treatments like medications and additional treatments that most people do not have access or training with.
• Post Cardiac Arrest Care - once a victim regains a pulse, there is a long series of assessments and treatments that are involved. We try to stabilize the victim, figure out what caused the problem in the first place, and some therapies to have the best outcomes for the victim.
• Recovery and Survivorship - recovery includes additional treatment, observation, rehabilitation, and psychological support. This extends beyond the patient to the immediate family members as they are a critical support for the patient.

The Cardiac Chain of Survival is a helpful tool to help you remember and organize the steps of cardiac care. However, it is even more important to focus on eliminating any fears you might have that could cause indecision and delays in executing these steps quickly and correctly.

Even after decades of CPR training being readily available to everyone, the biggest problem we find isn't that people are doing CPR incorrectly. It's that people just aren't doing CPR enough. They let the fear creep in and prevent them from possibly saving a life.

Almost all of the reasons people fail to rescue can be categorized into The 5 Fears of CPR Rescue.

If you haven't already, please watch our video on The 5 Fears of CPR Rescue and learn how you can remove the fears of getting involved in rescuing someone in cardiac arrest and providing care that just might give that person their best and only chance of survival.