Pulseless electrical activity (PEA) is a condition where the heart’s electrical activity is normal, but the mechanical pumping action is unresponsive, causing cardiac arrest. It is not shockable with a defibrillator, and CPR is the only option until medical professionals arrive. PEA is usually caused by severe heart disease, and patients are clinically dead.
Pulseless electrical activity (PEA) refers to a medical condition in which the electrical activity or rhythm of a person’s heart is relatively normal but the mechanical pumping action of the heart is unresponsive. This lack of response causes cardiac arrest. A patient who has PEA has no pulse, is unconscious, is in respiratory arrest, and is, therefore, clinically dead.
PEA is one of the heart rhythms, along with asystole, that is not shockable with a defibrillator such as an automated external defibrillator (AED), because defibrillation is unnecessary. The electrical activity is already intact with pulseless electrical activity, so there is no electrical chaos that can be fixed with defibrillators. This is why automatic AEDs do not deliver a shock to the patient and semi-automatic AEDs do not recommend delivering a shock in such a case. While normal electrical rhythm is vital to preventing cardiac arrest, the importance of the heart muscle cannot be overlooked. Electrical activity and heart muscle must work together to produce normal heartbeats.
The causes of pulseless electrical activity almost always involve the patient who has a severely terminally ill heart, which could be caused by a variety of health problems, including cancer. About four out of 10 cardiac arrest patients experience one of the non-shockable rhythms, asystole, or PEA. Although an AED is of no use and there is little hope of resuscitating the patient, healthcare professionals, especially emergency medical technicians (EMTs) and paramedics, resort to cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) on the way to a medical facility where it is It is possible to transfer treatment to a doctor, who can pronounce death.
Performing CPR is also all a layman can do for someone experiencing cardiac arrest caused by pulseless electrical activity until Emergency Medical Services (EMS) arrives. The only time CPR shouldn’t be performed is if the person has a do not resuscitate order (DNR), which is a legal document that must be honored by laymen and healthcare professionals. If an AED is not used or is not available to analyze the heart rhythm of someone in cardiac arrest, there is no way to know whether the arrest was caused by pulseless electrical activity or some other rhythm that may or may not be shockable. That is why it is important to perform pulseless CPR.
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