A Q&A with the Heart & Stroke Foundation - What You Need to Know About Occupational Cardiac Arrest

February was Heart Month, and here at SafetyLine, we would like to continue the needed conversation around the relatively unknown threat of cardiac arrest at work as we recently published Cardiac Arrest in the Workplace: What You Need to Know

We spoke to Jeffrey Buhr, Director of Philanthropy, and his team at the Heart & Stroke Foundation about why heart health needs to be a priority for employers, what can proactively be done to prevent cardiac arrest in the workplace, as well as a number of other interesting areas related to occupational health and safety. 

Should cardiovascular health be an occupational health and safety priority for employers? How come? 

Yes, and there are several areas in which workplace health and safety can address cardiovascular disease: 

  • An environment that promotes physical activity (bike racks, encouraged walking breaks, standing desks) 

  • An environment that promotes healthy food choices (not having a vending machine, providing cups for water or coffee, offering healthy snacks at meetings, encouraging staff not to eat lunch at their desks) 

  • An EAP program that includes smoking cessation supports, policies for smoke-free/clean air spaces  

Proactively, what can employers do to improve the heart health of their employees? 

Prevention starts with knowing your risk. 9 in 10 Canadians have at least one risk factor for heart disease and stroke.  8 in t10 cases of premature heart disease and stroke are preventable through healthy lifestyle behaviours.  

Some risk factors cannot be controlled such as age, ethnicity, family history, and gender. Some risk factors can be controlled, with the right support in place. The following behaviours are important for staying healthy and preventing heart disease and stroke. It should be noted adopting these behaviours is easier for some than others due to equity and access issues. Employers can encourage their employees to adopt the following positive behaviours:    

  • Stay active.   

  • Eat well.  

  • Be smoke-free.   

  • Manage stress.    

  • If you drink alcohol, consume in moderation.   

  • Maintain a healthy weight.   

  • Over 60% of Canadian adults are either overweight or obese.   

What can employers do to help someone experiencing cardiac arrest, a heart attack, or stroke?  

The signs of a heart attack are not always the same from person to person and they may not always be sudden or severe. Some people may experience only one symptom, while others have a combination.  

Cardiac arrest is an electrical malfunction that stops the heartbeat, shutting down the heart – like a breaker switch turning off all the power in a house. A person experiencing a cardiac arrest will collapse and be unresponsive.  

A heart attack happens when a blocked artery slows or cuts off blood flow to the heart, but usually, the heart continues beating. Typical heart attack signs are discomfort in the chest or upper body, shortness of breath, sweating, nausea, and light-headedness.

What should you do if someone has a cardiac arrest? 

First of all, phone 9-1-1 immediately and shout for an AED or automated external defibrillator.  Then, push hard and fast in the centre of the chest and use the AED if available. Here’s a great video we recommend you watch:

 

Remember, stroke is a medical emergency. If you experience any of these signs, call 9-1-1. Do not drive to the hospital. An ambulance will get you to the best hospital for stroke care. 

Do most of Heart & Stroke's work revolve around research? Has there been any ground-breaking research or innovations that you've been involved with? 

Since 1952, Heart & Stroke has invested more than $1.55 billion in vital heart and brain research. Over that period the death rate from heart disease and stroke has declined more than 75%.  

Our research strategy is founded on a commitment to excellence, and to investing in the best science as evaluated by competitive peer review. We fund investigator-driven research, build the capacity and strengths of Canada’s research community and invest in priorities that will have the greatest impact and benefit to people living with or at risk of heart conditions, stroke or related dementia. 

The strategy is realized through a suite of research programs that enable individual and team-based research, allowing researchers to generate their own projects as well as respond to priorities set out by Heart & Stroke. 

We also invest in researchers themselves – as doctoral students, as young investigators, and through their mid-and later-career stages; and you can see our research breakthroughs here: https://www.heartandstroke.ca/what-we-do/our-impact/-/media/pdf-files/canada/bringing-research-to-life/hsf_research_milestones_en.ashx   

Are you celebrating your 70th birthday this year? Tell us about the foundation's long legacy.

For 70 years, Heart & Stroke has been dedicated to fighting heart disease and stroke. Our work has saved thousands of lives and improved the lives of millions of others. You’ll probably run into someone today who is alive and well thanks to the countless Canadians who have supported our cause with their time and donations. 

Our progress is real. The death rate from heart disease and stroke has declined more than 75% over the past six decades. Envisioning this kind of progress was what drove a visionary group of Canadians, including researchers and physicians, to establish the beginnings of Heart & Stroke in 1952.  

You can see our latest results here: https://www.heartandstroke.ca/what-we-do/our-impact/your-donation-at-work 

Is the heart health of Canadians improving or the opposite? How come? 

Progress has been made, but the burden of heart disease and stroke in Canada remains high. Heart disease and stroke are the second leading cause of death in Canada today for men and women; an improvement over 30 years ago when heart disease and stroke were the leading cause of death.  

Can you tell us about Hearth Month this past year and its workplace focus? 

Heart Month is celebrated every year in February. This year, Heart & Stroke chose to focus on heart failure as a theme. We released a report, Falling short How Canada is failing people with heart failure— and how we can change that reveals that despite progress, navigating through siloed systems remains difficult and significant gaps still exist in diagnosis, treatment, and support for people living with heart failure.  

In Canada, there are 750,000 people living with heart failure and 100,000 people are diagnosed with this incurable condition each year. According to a recent Heart & Stroke poll, heart failure touches one in three Canadians, either because they have it themselves or because it affects a family member or close friend. 

We brought together leading cardiac organizations and others from across the country to create an action plan, informed by nurses, cardiologists, pharmacists, and people living with heart failure and their caregivers. The action plan emphasizes an integrated approach to heart failure across Canada, including: 

  • integrated systems of care 

  • evidence-based care driven by high-quality research 

  • access to specialized care 

  • coordinated and seamless transitions of care 

  • support for people living with heart failure and their families and caregivers 

Other areas that will improve outcomes and quality of life for people living with heart failure include improved access to necessary medications through a national, universal pharmacare program and expanded access to virtual care. Heart & Stroke would like to see these recommendations implemented across Canada, to improve outcomes for people living with heart failure. 

What does Heart & Stroke have planned for 2022? What can you tell us? 

Well, for the coming year, Heart & Stroke has identified four key mission focus areas where our efforts will have the most impact. These are stroke, cardiac arrest, heart failure and congenital heart disease. Embedded across these four areas is a health equity plan that focuses on priority equity-deserving groups in all of our work. 

An example of the work Heart & Stroke is doing in these areas is our Heart failure initiative. Heart & Stroke has brought together leading cardiac organizations, including the Canadian Cardiovascular Society, Canadian Heart Failure Society, Canadian Council of Cardiovascular Nurses, and HeartLife, along with other key partners to drive a national action plan. The action plan emphasizes an integrated approach to heart failure across Canada, to increase equity and ensure people living with heart failure have access to the right care at the right time and are fully supported to optimize their quality of life at every stage of the disease.  

The action plan encompasses the following five key goals/pillars to improve heart failure in Canada: 

  1. Integrated systems of care that leverage collaboration at the national and provincial levels to optimize heart failure funding, planning, care, and research  

  2. Evidence-based care for all people living with heart failure, guided by the latest science, and captured in published guidelines and standards of care 

  3. Access to specialized care, including advanced diagnostics and treatment to address the different aspects of this complicated condition  

  4. Coordinated and seamless transitions of care between hospitals and community-based healthcare services 

  5. Support for people living with heart failure and for their families and caregivers 

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