Five warning signs of a potentially fatal cardiac arrest

A number of symptoms precede cardiac arrest, which may mean the patient is at risk of a potentially fatal condition.

Researchers followed people who experienced cardiac arrest outside the hospital. Patients were registered in the Danish cardiac arrest registry between 2016 and 2018. One in ten had called an ambulance up to 24 hours before experiencing a cardiac arrest.

The most common early symptoms of cardiac arrest were: breathing problems, confusion, fainting, chest pain and fainting. The average age of the patients was 74 years, while 59.9 percent were male.

“Breathing problems were more likely to precede cardiac arrest than chest pain. Because dyspnea (difficulty breathing) is also a sign of other medical conditions, we hope our findings will spur further research to help EMS dispatchers distinguish between symptoms of the condition and other health problems." said the author of the study, Filip Gnesin, a scientist at the 'North Zealand' hospital in Hillerod, Denmark.

Cardiac arrest, also known as cardiopulmonary arrest, occurs when your heart suddenly stops pumping blood around your body. The person with cardiac arrest loses consciousness, while breathing is irregular.

When cardiac arrest occurs, there is no time to waste, it is a life-threatening emergency and calling the emergency services is vital.