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PTSD a common consequence of cardiac events

St. Joseph News-Press - 2/17/2023

Feb. 16—February is American Heart Month, but an aspect that is less commonly discussed is how events like cardiac arrest can have traumatic effects on people even after they physically recover.

Part of the reason physical health crises can be so devastating is patients often aren't mentally prepared, Family Guidance Center Co-CEO Kristina Hannon said.

"When you start to think about why that is and what would cause that, you look at people and think they've been through a very life-threatening event," she said. "There is a lot of concern about, 'Could that happen to me again?' and kind of walking on eggshells and being very afraid of what would happen."

Buchanan County EMS had almost 250 calls apiece last year for cardiac arrest and heart attacks. But it's more accurate also to include the 1,000-plus calls EMS ran for chest pain, Buchanan County Paramedic Andrew King said.

"It's very important that we get to them with the correct equipment, with the correct corrective formation, as soon as possible," he said. "So we treat that in a way almost as an overabundance of precautions, just to make sure we're covering all our bases and we don't want to miss something."

Acting with caution is important because the chances of survival are low if a patient does suffer from cardiac arrest outside of a hospital, King said. He recommends starting hands-only CPR and contacting first responders immediately because the survival rate decreases each second without care.

Nationally, only about 10% of patients who go into cardiac arrest away from a hospital survive long enough to be discharged, according to the American Heart Association.

Even for people who make it through a cardiac arrest or another heart event, the odds are higher they will suffer a similar crisis in the future, King said.

"Any time somebody has a previous cardiac event, we're going to elevate their risk a little bit," he said. "There's a lot of factors that go into it. Some of it is things that you can control, like your diet, your exercise level. Some of it is not things you can control, like your family history, your genetics."

Adjusting to life after a significant health event also can be difficult because it often means patients have to make lifestyle changes. That could include giving up cigarettes or eating healthier and people often struggle with the adjustments because they enjoyed those aspects that were removed or it significantly changes their routine, Hannon said.

"They may start to withdraw from those social events to avoid those things that they used to do," she said. "So that is a concern that you have to work people through and get people to continue their social activities and find ways to modify those sort of rituals and customs that we're all used to."

Alex Simone can be reached at alex.simone@newspressnow.com. Follow him on Twitter at @NPNOWSimone.

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