Health News Share Email Print Recognize sudden cardiac arrest Unless it's treated quickly, sudden cardiac arrest—when the heart stops functioning properly—is often fatal. But hands-only cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), if begun immediately, can double or triple the chances of survival. That's why it is so important to know these red flags. Learn more about your heart and how to keep it healthy. Start by taking our heart rhythm quiz. Reviewed 10/12/2023 Sources American Heart Association. "CPR is Key to Survival of Sudden Cardiac Arrest." https://www.heart.org/en/news/2018/07/12/cpr-is-key-to-survival-of-sudden-cardiac-arrest. American Heart Association. "Emergency Treatment of Sudden Cardiac Arrest." https://www.heart.org/en/health-topics/cardiac-arrest/emergency-treatment-of-cardiac-arrest. American Heart Association. "U.S. Commemorates 57th Consecutive American Heart Month in February." https://www.heart.org/en/around-the-aha/february-is-american-heart-month. American Red Cross. "Hands-only CPR." https://www.redcross.org/take-a-class/cpr/performing-cpr/hands-only-cpr. Related stories Health information main Health tools go Select a health topic ADHD Aging Alcohol use disorder Allergies Alternative medicine Alzheimer's disease Arthritis Asthma Babies Backs Bladder Bones Brain Breast cancer Cancer Cancer prevention Caregiving Cervical cancer Children and parenting Cholesterol Colds Colorectal cancer Coronavirus Dental care Depression Diabetes Disaster preparedness Down syndrome Ears Eating disorders Emergencies End of life/Palliative care Environmental health Epilepsy Eyes Fall prevention Family and relationships Feet Fitness and exercise Flu Food safety Hair Headache Health assessments Health calculators Healthcare Heart attack Heart health Hepatitis Hernia High blood pressure Hips HIV/AIDS Holiday health Hormones Imaging Incontinence Joints Kidneys Knees Leukemia Liver Lung cancer Lungs Medications Men's health Menopause Mental health Multiple sclerosis Nails Nose Nutrition Obesity Oral cancer Ovaries Pain Parkinson's disease Pets Pneumonia Pregnancy Prostate cancer Rehabilitation Reproductive health Safety School health Sexuality Sexually transmitted infections Skin Skin cancer Sleep Smoking Sports injuries Stomach pain Stress and anxiety Stroke Substance use disorder Summer safety Surgery Teen health Throat Thyroid Travel Vaccines Vascular health Violence Vitamins and supplements Weight management Winter health Women's health Workplace health Wound care i Events CPR Class i Providers Cardiology Emergency Medicine Family Medicine i Services Cardiac Services Cardiac Rehabilitation RSS If you have questions or comments, please contact Randolph Health. Problems reading or opening a page? Legal restrictions and terms of use applicable to this site.