Over 300,000 out-of-hospital sudden cardiac arrests occur every year, and over 80 percent of these occur at home.

Sudden cardiac arrest is not the same as a heart attack. Simply put, sudden cardiac arrest occurs when the electrical impulses in the heart become rapid or chaotic causing the heart to suddenly stop beating. Whereas, a heart attack is caused by a blockage in the blood supply to part of the heart muscle. A heart attack may cause cardiac arrest.