Diving Heart Attack - Predisposing Risk Factors
Predisposing factors of a scuba diving heart attack may include male gender, increased age, high blood pressure, overexertion, obesity, diabetes, smoking, and the use of certain drugs or medications before diving.
The risk of a diving heart attack may also increase if your family has a history of heart disease.
Heart Attack Signs and Symptoms
- Central chest pain may radiate to the arms and up to the jaw
- Indigestion and nausea
- Pallor, sweating
- Dizziness, anxiety, and shortness of breath
- Heart irregularities and/or palpitations
- Unconsciousness, no breathing and pulse
- Cyanosis (blueness)
- Fixed, dilated pupils
Heart Attack Treatment (conscious diver)
- If short of breath, the injured diver may prefer to sit up
- Provide oxygen (preferably by constant flow)
- Monitor the consciousness, airway, breathing and pulse
- Call for immediate medical assistance
Heart Attack Treatment (unconscious diver)
STOP - Assess and observe the scene
THINK - Consider your safety and form action plan
ACT - Check responsiveness
ALERT EMS
- Begin CPR by providing 30 chest compressions, then open the airway and give two breaths
- If you suspect possible drowning, begin CPR with rescue breaths before chest compressions
- Compress adult chest to a depth of at least 2 inches (5 cm) giving compressions at a rate of at least 100 per minute (push hard & fast)
- To minimize interruptions in chest compressions, if there is more than one rescuer present, continue CPR while the AED is switched on and the pads are being placed on the patient
- Reduced emphasis on barrier use when providing CPR, although still recommended, treatment should not be delayed if barriers are not available
- If the patient begins breathing, manage Serious Bleeding, Shock and Spinal Injury
First Aid Awareness |> Overview |> Cardiac Pacemaker Implant |> CPR and First Aid Course |> AED Defibrillator Course |
Divers also enjoyed reading about...