Sudden Cardiac Arrest

• Sudden cardiac arrest is one of the leading causes of death for adults in the United States. It results in more than 300,000 deaths annually. When CPR is performed correctly in the first few minutes following sudden cardiac arrest, the patients's chances of survival are drastically increased.
  
  Lay persons performing CPR are encouraged not to stop the process until emergency respondents arrive and take over the patient's care.
  
  

Avoid Brain Damage

• When CPR is performed correctly, the end result may wind up being the difference between a person with or without brain damage. When people stop breathing--even though their hearts may eventually be restarted and the breathing process reinstated; they have only a few minutes before oxygen deprivation takes its toll on the brain. Performing CPR correctly can help prevent the brain from being deprived of much needed oxygen.
  
  

Keep Vital Organs Alive

• Chest compressions (now known to be the most critical aspect of performing CPR) keep blood flowing to vital organs that might otherwise shut down during the period of cardiac arrest. In cases where this happens, patients may survive the initial cardiac arrest but eventually succumb to the failure of other organs in the body. While the compressions aren't as effective as the beating of the heart, they are vital enough to keep organs alive until the patient's heart can be restarted.