Cardiopulmonary Arrest

Cardiopulmonary arrest simply means that your heart (cardio) and lungs (pulmonary) aren't working -- your heart isn't beating, and you aren't breathing. Many different things can lead to cardiopulmonary arrest, including:

Stroke
Drug overdose
Heart attack
Near drowning
Choking
Blood loss
Electric shocks
Carbon monoxide poisoning

A heart attack, for example, can damage the heart muscle and impede its ability to vigorously contract, resulting in cardiopulmonary arrest The pumping action of the heart pushes blood teeming with oxygen and other nutrients out to the rest of your body. If your heart isn't beating properly or at all, blood isn't supplied to your body, and oxygen and other vital nutrients don't get delivered to your tissues and organs (including your heart). With no energy to power your body, vital organs like your heart and lungs stop working, and you are in a state of cardiopulmonary arrest.

In a heart attack, something like a blood clot obstructs one of your coronary arteries and cuts off blood flow to your heart.

Cardiopulmonary arrest is an extremely dangerous situation. Within 4 to 6 minutes without oxygen, your brain cells begin to die off rapidly. With each additional minute, the damage builds up. Most people cannot survive long in such a state. This is why it is so important to start performing CPR immediately when you find that their heartbeat has stopped.