Family and Home Caregivers near Escondido Should Be Alert to Signs of Heart Trouble

Home caregivers near Escondido, along with most of the public, have long seen cardiac arrest as a disaster that occurs without warning. Because instances of cardiac arrest that happen outside a hospital have a very low survival rate, medical professionals are anxious to discover whether there are warning signs that family and friends can keep an eye out for. Calling for an ambulance before an attack begins would greatly increase a victim’s chances for surviving and recovering from it.

Not “Out of the Blue”

Medical researchers are now fairly certain that cardiac arrest does provide warning signs for those who are watching for them. Some of those signs can appear as long as four weeks before the attack itself, or may give as little as an hour of warning. Doctors believe that the main reason people do not respond to these warning signs is that they underestimate the seriousness of the symptoms. Dizziness, shortness of breath, and chest pains are often dismissed as passing anomalies, especially if they seem to disappear after a short time.

Better Treatments Needed

If family or caregivers notice these symptoms in a senior, they should try to get them to their doctor, or call 911 if the symptoms are severe. But the medical field recognizes that it is still very difficult to run tests that will show definitively whether a cardiac arrest is in the near future. Far more research and better testing methods are necessary, but educating the public about taking possible heart trouble symptoms seriously is a critical first step.

Another Reason for Home Caregivers in San Diego County

Unless your elderly loved one lives in your house and you are home all day, it is very difficult to keep track of their health on a constant basis. In addition to heart problems, accidents like falls and lapses in judgment place seniors in grave danger if they are alone. Home caregivers in San Diego County are trained to keep seniors safe and to respond appropriately if a health emergency develops.