Imagine that you are walking down the street. Perhaps you’re thinking about a meeting you’ve had or what you’re going to have for lunch. Suddenly someone collapses in front of you . Could you save this person’s life? Would it make a difference to his chances of survival if he collapsed in Seattle or Nice? According to Dr Philippe Ricard, a cardiologist at the Centre Hospitalier Princesse Grace in Monaco, the answer to both these questions is «yes».
Dr Ricard, has just published a book, «Au Coeur de la Vie» in which he argues that thousands of lives could be saved each year by any one of us if only we were prepared to spend a couple of hours a year learning now. I recently went along to Monaco to talk to him. He explained to me that cardiovascular disease is the main cause of death in industrialised nations, killing more people than all types of cancers put together, and accounting for almost 50% of all deaths. Although it is the number one killer, it is not ‘fashionable’ in the same way as other diseases like cancer and AIDs, and despite the fact that progress in treatments has saved literally hundreds of thousands of lives over the past twenty years, it gets little media coverage. Moreover, 50% of cardiovascular deaths are as a result of «sudden death», and according to Dr Ricard, many of these deaths are needless deaths which could be prevented by rapid intervention.
Sudden death is usually due to ventricular fibrillation, an arrhythmia of the heart where it beats so fast it is no longer able to pump blood effectively to the vital organs including the brain. From the moment the arrhythmia starts, the victim is literally minutes away from brain damage and then death. So what do you do? Most people just stand and watch, or turn the victim on his side or try mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. Dr Ricard told me that the only three gestures that could save his life are: phone emergency services; start immediate heart massage; defibrillate. My answer to that is that most people would have no idea how to do the last two; which brings us back to Seattle or Nice. In many US cities there are wide ranging programmes to teach people how to do heart massage and how to use a defibrillator, a hand held device which delivers an electric shock to the heart. Defibrillators are then installed in public places. This is beginning to happen in some towns in Europe, but the education on use is lacking. The result of this is that if you collapse with arrhythmia in Seattle you have a 30% chance of survival whereas in France the chance is 2%. Dr Ricard would like to see the basic techniques taught in schools, and given that it only needs a couple of hours and annual refresher courses, it’s hard to argue against it.
«Au Coeur de la Vie» is not just about sudden death. As Dr Ricard explained to me, it also aims to inform people who already have heart disease how to live longer and better. Using a mixture of basic science, statistics and anecdotes, the first part of the book provides a comprehensive overview of the main types of cardiovascular disease, with a discussion of treatments and medical research. The second part is devoted to prevention, with detailed sections on smoking, fats and cholesterol, high blood pressure, and obesity and diabetes. For anyone with heart or weight problems, this book is a way to change your life and improve your French at the same time!
Dr Ricard is also the President of L’Association Monégasque de Lutte contre la Mort Subite. For further information contact:
www.mortsubitemonaco.org
Hilary Spronken, May 2010
Looks like you had a very productive Sunday there. Well done! I'll be watching this space.
ReplyDeletethere is one more thing that you can do to halp save a life which is if they collapse in front of you ie you actually see them collapse, rather than come across them after, you do the pre (some word I can't remember is next) thump. This is when you basically put your fist like a hammer and thump them pretty much right on the heart to restart. Then you get on with mouth to mouth, but that thump can be the life saver. Alexanna
ReplyDeleteThat would be a precordial thump ( and not pre-cardial as many people say). According to my wife, who was an intensive care nurse in a previous life, it's a bit of a controversial technique. In any case you would have to be thoroughly trained in order not to inflict more harm to the patient.
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