Heart and Heartstart

• The heart is a muscular pump that pumps or squeezes the blood around the blood vessels.
• The heart, lungs, and body form a pathway for the blood to travel through.
• The heart is made of muscle tissue and when it contracts it pumps or squeezes the blood around the blood vessels.
• As the blood travels around the body, dissolved food, oxygen, and heat are passed to all of the organs, and waste materials such as carbon dioxide are removed.
• The left side of the heart pumps oxygenated blood into arteries that blood to the organs of the body.
• The oxygen in the blood moves into the organs of the body and carbon dioxide moves into the blood.
• The deoxygenated blood returns to the heart through the veins.
• The right side of the heart pumps this deoxygenated blood to the lungs.
• In the lungs, the carbon dioxide leaves the blood and oxygen moves into the blood.
• The blood is now oxygenated again.
• Coronary arteries supply the heart wall with oxygenated blood and soluble food to feed the cells, allowing the cells to release enough energy to power the heart muscle contractions.
• A cardiac arrest is when the heart suddenly stops pumping blood around your body, commonly because of a problem with electrical signals within your heart.
• The sufferer will immediately lose consciousness and is not likely to survive without immediate CPR, defibrillation, and medical attention.
• If a first aider comes across a casualty, they must first check for danger and then check for a response.
• If the casualty is conscious, the next step is to assess the problem, administer any immediate first aid, and phone for an ambulance.
• If a coronary artery becomes blocked, blood flow to the heart wall is prevented and part of the heart wall muscles dies, this is known as a heart attack and requires medical attention.
• Poor diet and exercise regimes increase the likelihood of heart attack.