Humour Me For A Minute – You bought an old house in Fantasy Avenue, a real fixer upper. Lucky for you, you’re a plumber and you replace every pipe in the place. You know that there are 2 major causes of house damage – plumbing faults and electrical faults. You think the plumbing is low risk but have no idea about the electrics. Do you insure the house?
Quite literally, a Heart Attack is PLUMBING problem of the heart, Sudden Cardiac Arrest is an ELECTRICAL problem of the heart.
Heart attacks (plumbing problems) often lead to Sudden Cardiac Arrest (electrical problems) so if you are at high risk of heart attack, you are at high risk of Sudden Cardiac Arrest BUT – You can have the best plumbing in the world and still be at risk of Sudden Cardiac Arrest. SCA impacts children, adults, men, women, slim and overweight often as a result of either a traumatic incident or an un-diagnosed heart condition.
So why does the distinction matter?
It matters because people confusing the two mean that well meaning people leaders often look around and say – “Most people here are young and healthy, we’re at low risk – I don’t need an AED”.
Nothing would be worse than someone dying at your workplace. Don’t ignore the electrics just because the pipes seem OK.