| Question | Answer |
| Automated External Defibrillator (AED) | a device that can analyze the electrical activity or rhythm of a patient's heart and deliver an electrical shock (defibrillation) if appropriate. |
| Heart | the muscular organ that contracts to force blood into circulation through the body. |
| Nitroqlycerin | medication that dilates the blood vessels, increasing blood flow and decreasing the workload of the heart; often prescribed for patients with a history of chest pain |
| Pulmonary Vein | vessel carrying oxygen-rich blood from the lungs to the left atrium of the heart. |
| Cardiac Arrest | the cessation of cardiac function with the patient displaying no pulse, no breathing and unresponsiveness. |
| Cardiac Compromise | reduced heart function caused by any of a variety of conditions, diseases, or injuries affecting the heart. |
| Acute Coronary Syndrome (ACS) | a group of signs and symptoms resulting from any of a variedt of conditions that can affect the heart in which the coronary arteries are narrowed or occluded by fat deposits, clots, or spasm. |
| Vein | vessel that carries blood toward the heart. |
| Venae Cavae | the two major veins that carry oxygen-depleted blood back to the heart: superior venae cavae from the upper body, inferior venae cavae from the lower body. |
| Atria | the two upper chambers of the heart |
| Pulmonary Artery | vessel carrying oxygen-depleted blood from the heart's right ventricle to the lungs. |
| Cardiac Conduction System | the specialized contractile and conductive tissue of the heart that generates electrical impulses and causes the heart to beat. Also called the coronary conduction system. |
| Automaticity | the ability of cells within the cardiac conduction system to generate a cardiac impulse on their own. |
| Defibrillation | electrical shock or current delivered to the heart through the patient's chest wall to help the heart restore a normal rhythm |
| Asystole | a heart rhythm indication absence of any electrical activity in the heart, also known as flatline. |
| Capillary | tiny blood vessel connecting arerioles to venules, site of gas and nutrient exchange |
| Pulseless Electrical Activity (PEA) | a condition in which the heart generates relatively normal electrical rhythms but fails to perfuse the body adequately because of a decreased or absent cardiac output from cardiac muscle failure or blood loss. |
| Ventricular Fibrillation (VF or V-Fib) | a continuous, uncoordinated, chaotic rhythm that does not produce pulses. |
| Blood Pressure | the force exerted by the blood on the interior walls of the blood vessels. |
| Artery | blood vessel that carries blood away from the heart. |
| Hypoperfusion | the insufficient supply of oxygen and other nutrients to some of the body's cells that results from inadequate circulation of blood. Also called shock. |
| Perfusion | the delivery of oxygen and other nutrients to the cells of all organ systems, which results from the constant adequate circulation of blood through the capillaries |
| Circulatory System | system composed of the heart and blood vessels that brings oxygen and nutrients to and takes wastes away from body cells. Also called the cardiovascular system. |
| Ventricular Tachycardia (VT or V-Tach) | a very rapid heart rhythm that may or may not produce a pulse and is generally too fast to adequately perfuse the body's organs. |
| ventricles | the two lower chambers of the heart |
| Aorta | the major artery from the heart. |
| Coronary Arteries | network of arteries supplying the heart with blood. |
| Venule | smallest vein, leading from a capillary. |
| Shock | see hypoperfusion |
| Arteriole | the smallest branch of an artery, which at its distal end leads into a capillary. |
| Chain Of Survival | term used by the American Heart Association for the series of four interventions-early access, early CPR, early defibrillation, and early ACLS-that provides the best chance for successful resuscitation of a cardiac arrest victim. |
