Mogul Health: The Heart

By C.Creed

Hello mogul ladies!

This month health slot is about the heart.- Do you know what to do if it stops or goes out of sync?

What does it do?

This awesome bit of kit in our body is pumping all the time and it has electric running through it in a set pattern. It’s the shape of a strawberry and the top half is called the atrium and the bottom half are the ventricles. It works on a one-way circuit to pump blood (haemoglobin) around the body one way, the blood carries the oxygen. If this is working well the oxygen gets taken to the brain, the epi-center of our bodies and message centre to every muscle, nerve thought and movement we do.

The lungs act as a filter to this blood along with the kidneys in ensuring everything is clear for the blood going to the heart.

How Does it do it?

The electric starts at the top left of the Atrium and travels down the heart to the bundle of his to make it quiver into a normal heartbeat..duh-dump repeatedly.

When it stops?

When the heart stops or the electric goes the wrong way, people either

Stop breathing or breath too fast or too slow. This is not adequate for breathing. You only have 4-6minutes before the brain stops delivering enough oxygen so you need to act fast!

What can you do?

Danger-Check you are not going to put yourself into any danger.

Response:-

Alert, are they able to move their eyes -No.

Voice- are they able to respond when you speak – No.

Pain-Tap their collarbone repeatedly, do they respond – No.

If no to all of the above they are Unresponsive.

Call- ambulance 999 & stop catastrophic bleed with anything you can, clothes, someone else’s hand put pressure on.

Ensure someone gets an AED.

(This link will tell you your nearest AED.. http://www.heartsafe.org.uk/aed-locations)

You cannot move onto anything else as it would be pointless if bleeding is bad.

Airway, look to see if anything is in the way if so rapidly pull over by the shoulder to the side and get out the object. Breathing, check for up to 10 seconds by feeling with your cheek against their mouth at the same time place your hand on their chest and see if any fall and rise of the area.

If no.

There is no need to check for a pulse because if they are not breathing or not adequate breathing the heart will stop as it works with the lungs.

Immediately commence CPR.

Open AED and listen to the voice prompts and follow them.

ADULT CPR

Chest compressions need to be skin to skin ie hand onto the bare chest. Middle of the chest double hands locked in push hard and fast for 30 counts then two rescue breaths. Repeat this 5 times then reassess to see if they are breathing.

CHILD CPR

If a child up to 10 years but over 1 year then one hand into the centre of the chest you can use an AED on a child.

BABY CPR

Do not use AED on a baby

Always deliver 5 breaths into a baby first putting your mouth over their nose and mouth and use two fingers into the centre of the baby chest up to the age of 1 for 30 counts and repeat this 5 times. Then see if they are breathing after 5 rounds.

Using a defib will increase someone’s chance of surviving by 70-90 percent more than just CPR alone.

I train CPR but many others also do..anyone can save a life the training just gives more confidence and information! Just try it’s better than not.

Picture (right) from british heart foundation.

Education is preservation !