Study: The Higher Your Floor Number, The Less You Are To Survive A Cardiac Arrest

The higher your flat is, the better the views. But experts from Canada discovered that the higher the person's residence is, the less they are likely to survive a heart attack.

Ian Drennan, lead author of the study and also a paramedic, said that cardiac arrests occurring in high-rise buildings pose difficulties for 911-initiated first responders, as per Daily Mail.

"Building access issues, elevator delays, and extended distance from the emergency vehicle to the patient," Drennan said, "can all contribute to longer times for 911-initiated first responders to reach the patient and start time-sensitive, potentially life-saving resuscitation," The The Financial Express reported.

Cardiac arrest happens when the heart suddenly stops functioning, while a heart attack happens when something blocks the blood to go into the heart.

The team ended up with their conclusion after analyzing data from 8,216 adults who suffered cardiac arrest treated by 911-first responders in Toronto between Jan. 2007 and Dec. 2012. They  found out that 3.8 percent survived until they can be discharged from a hospital. Survival for victims living third floor and below is 4.2 percent while for victims living third floor or above is only 2.6 percent.

Moreover, those who are living in the sixteenth floor have less than one percent of survival chance and in fact out of the 216 incidents they had recorded, only two people survived. On the other hand, no person has ever survived a cardiac arrest from the 25^th floor and above.

Drennan said that to increase the chance of survival of people experiencing cardiac arrest in high-rise establishments, bystanders should do everything possible to reduce the delays for first responders, as per livescience.

Researchers recommended that high-rise establishments should improve the accessibility automated external defibrillator, give paramedics a universal key elevator, and find ways to alert building security to the fact that 911 first responders are on the way.

The group's study was published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal.