Emergency Medical Care Plan for Congestive Heart Failure

Congestive heart failure (CHF) is a serious and life-threatening illness that is associated with premature death. CHF is when the heart is weakened and is unable to pump blood through the body at a normal rate. There are many who believe that CHF is a kind of heart disease. However, it is one of those several factors that can lead to heart failure. The American Heart Association estimates that there are already more than 5 million Americans living with CHF, Each year, medical professionals return a diagnosis of heart failure for approximately 670,000 patients.

CHF occurs due to number of reasons. Family history of coronary disease, congenital heart defects, damaged heart valves, prior cardiac arrests and chronic high blood pressure are some of the reasons which can cause CHF.

Causes of heart failure can be classified according to the following changes:

1. Increased afterload, primarily resulting from obstructive lesions, such as valvular stenosis or coarctation of the aorta.
2. Increased volume, especially in case of left-to-right shunts that cause the right ventricle to hypertrophy in order to compensate for the additional blood volume.
3. High cardiac output demands, in which the body's need for oxygenated blood exceeds the cardiac output (even though the volume may be normal), such as in obstructive lung disease, hyperthyroidism and severe anemia.
4. Myocardial factors that affect the contractility of the muscle fibers, such as myocardial ischemia from severe anemia or asphyxia, heart block, academia and low levels of potassium, glucose, calcium or magnesium.

Common symptoms of congestive heart failure include:

1. Heart palpitations (feeling the heart beat)
2. Shortness of breath with exertion or when lying down
3. Swelling in legs, feet and ankles (pooling of blood)
4. Cough
5. Weight gain
6. Swelling of the abdomen
7. Low blood pressure
8. Loss of appetite, indigestion
9. Irregular or rapid pulse
10. Difficulty sleeping
11. Weakness and fatigue

Other symptoms may include:

1. Decreased urine production
2. Nausea and vomiting
3. Decreased in alertness or ability to concentrate
4. Nighttime urination (the need to get out of bed to go to the bathroom)

Emergency Care Plan for Congestive Heart Failure

An emergency care plan with a buddy system is among the top list of priorities for primary caregivers. Every caregiver should have at least one other person [buddy], that is well trained to take over in their absence. Whether they are trained professionally or not, they must also be trained by the primary caregiver to the particular needs of the patient. The designated 'buddy' should be familiar with the routine of the patient, the medicine schedule and dosing, emergency medical contacts [doctors, hospitals, transport services, next of kin] and emergency procedures in addition to the care required.

The emergency care kit is a blessing to alternate caregivers as well as emergency medical professionals. It saves valuable time in emergency situations and provides accurate instructions, vital information, and can potentially save the patients life.