Heart disease is Australia s number one killer, with approximately 22,000 people dying of heart disease in recent figures released by the Heart Foundation, and deaths from heart failure, when the heart muscle has become too weak to pump blood through the body, have risen by 11% since 2001. Coronary heart disease was the leading causes of death for both males and females.
Sudden cardiac arrest is when the heart stops abruptly, and can be caused by heart disease as well as many other emergency medical problems. Around 3,000 people a year die from sudden cardiac arrest, many outside the hospital, witnessed by relatives, friends or passers-by. Modern resuscitation science has shown that the simplest of measures can prevent death in sudden cardiac arrest, including hands-only CPR and an early shock from a simple defibrillator device |
