Moreno-Martínez FL, Rodríguez CO

Language: Spanish
References: 0
Page: 224-226
PDF size: 206.49 Kb.

Text Extraction

The sudden cardiac death (SCD) represents a great challenge for any health system, since its estimated proportion is greater than 2 million a year, with a survival in the out-of-hospital setting in less than 5%.
But it is not only because of its impact, but also the speed with which it is presented –often without previous symptoms– and the little time that is available to achieve, if possible, an effective resuscitation. Even medical emergency systems in developed countries often arrive too late.
The ventricular fibrillation, of any origin, is one of the main causes of potentially recoverable SCD6; that is why many public places have been equipped with automatic external defibrillators (AED) to bring as much as possible the possibility of defibrillation. Another strategy has been the training of several population sectors, not health staff, in the basic maneuvers of cardiopulmonary resuscitation; but until now, it has only been achieved –without diminishing the importance of the fact– to reduce mortality scarcely.
There is still a long way to go and, for the time, in addition to the health staff, the general population must also be involved; if not, it is impossible to achieve the desired results, because prevention strategies and control of risk factors are essential to reduce the incidence of this deadly disease.