Boredom at it’s HEART

By: Dhravid Kumar18 May 2015

© NOT REGISTERED

Dedication

.To my parents who are always

around to support meDhravid Kumar

Table of Contents

IntroductionA Heart is not aThe PacemakerThe Full Cycle of the HeartElectrocardiogramMalfunctions

Introduction

In these chapters, you will learn to save someone’s life and be their hero. This could aid you to assist people from getting hurt, when it is not very obvious. When in the face of danger, learn to recognize the signs and call for help.

A Heart is not a

A common mistake in people’s mind is that the human heart is in the shape of a . A real human heart looks very different (see figure 1). The heart consists of 4 distinct main chambers. The upper chambers or the atria are smaller than the lower chambers or ventricles. The heart is in the middle of the chest, slightly to the left of center and is surrounded by the lungs. An important part of the heart is the pacemaker.

To Read OnBlood is NOT blue,

it looks blue

because your veins

are bluish.

Figure 1Dissected heart

Ventricles

Atrium

The PacemakerThe pacemaker or the Sinoatrial (SA) (see

figure 2) node is the size of a dot in the heart. It sets the rhythm of the heart along with another node called the Atrioventricular (AV) (see figure 2) node. The rhythm is essential to ensure that pure and impure blood is kept separate. Occasionally, the SA node will fail and the AV node will take the job of the SA node. If both the SA and AV nodes fail, then the person will have to get an artificial pacemaker or they will die.

Figure 2Dissected heart

AtrioVentriclar node

Pacemaker

The Full Cycle of the Heart

ElectrocardiogramEKG or better known as ECG, is an acronym for

electrocardiogram and is shown in Figure 3. The ECG is a graphical representation of the electrical activity of the heart in the form of a wave with spikes and dips. These waves are then broken up into different sections. The sections in a typical pattern is shown in Figure 4.

To read an EKG for an individual, 10 tabs have to be placed on the perdon’s body to collect electrical pulses. The tab’s tip should be facing down and placed on six different places on the chest (see Figure 5). The last four have to be placed such that there is one tab on each wrist and one tab on each ankle. The tabs on the ankle have to be places with the tips facing up.

Figure 3

Figure 4

Figure 5

Malfunctions• Fred felt a strong pain in his chest.

This did not subside with time. Even though he felt this way, Fred blew it off thinking that it was just a small problem and continued with his life. One morning, he felt a sharp pain in his chest. It was so sharp that he took the day off thinking that he could rest and get better. A few hours later, he fainted in his bedroom from a heart attack. Fred had a cardiac arrest and died minutes later because there was no one to call for help when he fainted.

A heart attack is like a huge tidal wave in the ocean while a cardiac arrest is like a destructive Tsunami. A heart attack occurs when the heart does not receive sufficient blood because of blockage in the coronary artery. This causes the muscles of the heart (myocardium) to be damaged. Cardiac arrest is when a huge section of the myocardium dies and the heart stops working. If this is not treated immediately, the person cannot recover.

Conclusion

Now you know what to do if someone complains of chest pain and faints. You also know what it could mean. With this new knowledge, you could save someone’s life. It could be your family member, a neighbor or even a stranger. You can help someone get help and be their hero.

Glossary

Coronary artery diseaseThe coronary artery being blocked. ThrombosisThe forming of a blood clot in an

artery.Ventricle A camber that stores blood in the

heart.Capillaries The smallest blood vessel.

Bibliography

http://store.draxe.com/products/collagen-protein• https://

higherdensity.wordpress.com/category/body/heart/

• http://www.emtresource.com/resources/ecg/12-lead-ecg-placement/

• https://www.pinterest.com/pin/515099276100723680/

• http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2011/10/how-to-read-an-ekg-electrocardiograph/

• http://lifeinthefastlane.com/resources/ecg-database/