What Every Parent Needs to Know About Cardiac Arrest

Every Parent’s Worst Nightmare

Cardiac arrest. Just hearing those words probably makes your heart skip a beat. It's every parent's worst nightmare - your child is unresponsive and not breathing normally.

But here's what I want you to know - if this ever happens, you're not helpless. The skills I'm about to teach you are the same ones that save lives in hospitals and ambulances every day. And yes, you can absolutely learn them.

Today, we're talking about what cardiac arrest actually is, how to recognize it, and why what you do in the first few minutes could save your child's life.

When the Heart Stops

Cardiac Arrest is when the heart stops. It's different from a heart attack - which is when a vessel in the heart is blocked. A heart attack can lead to cardiac arrest but it doesn't always.

In children, cardiac arrest usually happens because of a breathing problem - choking, drowning, or severe illness that their bodies have worked really hard to compensate for. The heart stops because it's not getting oxygen.

Here's what you need to understand - when someone is in cardiac arrest, they will die without immediate help. But with CPR, you can keep blood flowing to their brain, heart and lungs until a paramedic arrives to take over.

How to Recognize It

Recognition is simple but crucial. If your child is unresponsive and not breathing normally, they are in cardiac arrest. That's it.

Unresponsive: They don't respond to your voice or touch

Not breathing normally: No breathing at all, or gasping for air. This is called agonal breathing. Watch the video called ‘David Does Agonal Breathing’ for an example.

Don't waste time checking for a pulse -it’s completely unreliable. You’re more likely to feel your racing heart than their lack of a pulse. Instead,  look for signs of life: are they responsive, moving or breathing normally? If these are absent, start CPR immediately.

Why This Matters

Every minute without CPR reduces survival chances by 10%. But here's the incredible news - immediate CPR can triple survival rates.

You don't need to be perfect. You don't need medical training. You just need to act. CPR which pushes blood around their body until help arrives is exactly what their brain needs to survive.

Let’s Do It!

In this module, I'm going to teach you exactly how to do this. Rescue breathing for every age, chest compressions that actually work, and how to use an AED safely.

Practice along with the videos - use a throw pillow or teddy bear as your patient. 

Send us a video of your practice and we'll give you personalized feedback to make sure you're ready.

Your child needs you to know this. Let's make sure you're prepared.