Cardiac arrests at home have nearly doubled, and this Corner Brook man is one of the lucky few who survived
CBC
Kevin McCarthy uses his shovel to pick away at the bit of ice left on his driveway. It's the same spot where he suffered a cardiac arrest just months ago.
McCarthy, 59, was shovelling out his Corner Brook driveway in November when he felt pain in his chest and started to sweat.
After a cold shower, he told his wife to call 911.
By the time the ambulance arrived, he was flatlining.
"I was non-responsive. No pulse, no heartbeat," McCarthy said.
Paramedics had to revive him three times, using CPR and a defibrillator.
"They gave me a shock. They got a pulse. They worked on me and lost me, and they gave me another shot of electricity and shocked me again," said McCarthy.
McCarthy is one of a rapidly ballooning demographic who've experienced a cardiac arrest at home.
The Heart and Stroke Foundation's newest findings show there are 60,000 cardiac arrests outside hospitals each year in Canada, up from 35,000 in 2020.
Only 1 in 10 people survive an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest.
McCarthy, who says he's feeling much better these days, was brought to hospital in St. John's following his cardiac arrest. He had two stents inserted.
He's walking more now, and has changed his diet.
"I kept saying, 'I am OK. I am OK.' But apparently it was a hell of lot more serious than … what I thought it was," he said.
Donovan Taplin, a spokesperson for the Heart and Stroke Foundation, says nearly half of those cardiac arrests in Canada each year happen to those under the age of 65.
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