On admission to hospital, Edward is sent for tests which confirm that he has had a myocardial infarction (heart attack). He is admitted to hospital where he has a percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) to improve the blood flow to his heart. After 48 hours, he is discharged home with no significant physical deficits.
Cardiac Rehabilitation
Edward’s GP refers him for a programme of cardiac rehabilitation.
Cardiac rehabilitation can be defined as:
“The co-ordinated sum of activities required to influence favourably the underlying cause of cardiovascular disease, as well as provide the best possible physical, mental and social conditions, so that the patients may, by their own efforts, preserve or resume optimal functioning in their community and through improved heatlh behaviour, slow or reverse progression of the disease”. (British Association for Cardiovascular Prevention and Rehabilitation, 2012.)
A list of cardiac rehabilitation programmes offered in Scotland can be found at:
During his 6-week rehabilitation programme, Edward receives the information, education and support that he requires to deal with the implications of having had a heart attack and subsequent OHCA.
General information on cardiac rehabilitation
For Edward:
- British Heart Foundation: Cardiac rehabilitation
- British Heart Foundation: Cardiac rehabilitation: Your questions answered
Edward is keen to have control over his own recovery and rehabilitation process. The Self Management Toolkit (link below) is written for people with long term conditions, rather than acute conditions, but it contains a lot of information and ideas for self management that Edward might find helpful:
The Heart Manual (2016) is a home based supported self-management programme suitable for individuals recovering from a MI/PCI:
Edward is offered the opportunity to access the Heart Manual but decides to attend group rehabilitation classes in his local area.
For responders:
The following guidelines and standards provide useful information on cardiac rehabilitation:
- SIGN: SIGN 150: Cardiac rehabilitation
- The British Association for Cardiovascular Prevention and Rehabilitation: The BACPR Standards and Core Components for Cardiovascular Disease Prevention and Rehabilitation 2017
A learning module on Cardiac Rehabilitation can be found at:
- HEARTe Cardiac Rehabilitation module (John’s case study contains particularly useful information).
Pulse point
As we have seen in the Introductory section, a cardiac arrest is not the same as a heart attack. The majority of heart attacks do not result in cardiac arrest. However, around half of all sudden cardiac arrests occur in heart attack victims, such as Edward, with no previous history of cardiovascular disease.
Page last reviewed: 06 Oct 2020
