Sudden Cardiac Arrest: The Biggest Killer of Them All: A Guide for Survivors, Caregivers, Family and Friends

by Morris W Shanahan

Globally, Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA) also known as Cardiac Arrest (CA) or Cardiac Death (CD) claims more lives every year than;

colorectal cancer (1,931,590)breast cancer (685,000)cervical cancer (342,000)prostate cancer (375,000)Alzheimer’s disease (1,550,000)suicide (995,000)auto accidents (1,350,000)HIV (650,000)homicide (464,000)fires (420,700)And all people who died from Covid between 9 March 2020 and 6 February 2023 (4,183,188) --- COMBINED! To put it in plain and simple math, worldwide as many as 16,000,000 people will have a SCA in the next 12 months of which approximately 15,040,000 will die straight away, usually before they reach hospital. Of the 960,000 that do survive to discharge from hospital, within 12 months over 20% of those will pass away (another 192,000) leaving only 768,000. After four more years 50% of those will be gone. So after five years post-SCA discharge from hospital only approximately 384,000 survivors will be left out of the original 16,000,000. That is a frightening statistic, yet one that gets very little attention.

Think of it, out of 16,000,000 SCA sufferers, 15,616,000 will die either immediately or after five years, leaving only 384,000 to carry on. Any other statistic this bad and the World would be up in arms!

The fact is, Cardiac Arrest (CA) is the biggest killer in every country in the world and is highly underreported as well. For example, in high density areas such as China, India, and Indonesia, proper statistics are unavailable. It is estimated that survival rate for a SCA or CA in China is less than 1% and only slightly better in Indonesia and India. In the United States it was estimated that in 2021 over 600,000 people died from Cardiac Arrest, the most deaths of any cause including Covid and nearly all cancers. Survival rates during the coronavirus for Out of Hospital Cardiac Arrest (OHCA) was only approximately 6-7% and In Hospital Cardiac Arrest survival rates dropped below 20%. These statistics were mirrored in nearly every developed nation.

Unfortunately, there is very little awareness of SCA/CA/CD and it's causes, impact on all stakeholders, treatments, and information available in regard SCA/CA/CD from Hospitals, Doctor's Offices, Radiology Departments, Public Health Offices, in fact, nowhere other than online could I find information of this killer. In addition, I found no comprehensive treatment programs for survivors, partners or family members, all of whom are highly affected by the SCA of a loved one. The only post-CA treatment I could find was being lumped in with Parkinson, Stroke, Heart Attack and even Alzheimers patients! This was simply not good enough. SCA and CA survivors had actually died and been brought back to life in varying states of damage and trauma, yet there was simply a little physio available in the hospital, then discharge, possibly with an Implantable Cardioverter-Defibrillator (ICD). There was little concern for the psychological, emotional, mental as well as physical challenges these survivors and their loved ones would face in ensuing weeks, months and often years to come.

This book addresses each of these issues and makes suggestions for all Survivors, Partners, Family Members, Workmates, Employers and Health Care Professionals.

In addition, a significant portion of the sale of each book will go towards creating a higher level of knowledge of Cardiac Arrest and in teaching High School students proper CPR techniques coupled with the installation of portable AEDs in high use sporting areas.

227 pages, Kindle Edition

Published February 23, 2023