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More than 165,000 people experience cardiac arrest each year and 75 percent of those episodes happen in the home. A person in cardiac arrest has very little chance of survival unless immediate action is taken to sustain him or her until medical help arrives.

Cardiac arrest is a condition in which the heart abruptly stops pumping blood. In many cases, the heart suddenly goes from a regular heartbeat to twitching, called ventricular fibrillation, which does not allow blood to move through the body. When the heart stops, the absence of oxygenated blood may cause brain damage in only a few minutes. Death may occur in as little as eight to 10 minutes.

Cardiac arrest strikes immediately and without warning. Signs may include sudden collapse, loss of responsiveness and failure to breathe normally. If you see someone collapse in a public place or at home and you think it might be cardiac arrest, there are some things that you should know and some actions you may take.

Conventional cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is a life-saving technique useful in many emergencies in which someone's breathing or heartbeat has stopped. CPR may involve a combination of chest compression and mouth-to-mouth rescue breathing to keep oxygenated blood flowing to the brain and other vital organs until professional medical help arrives.

To learn conventional CPR properly, take an accredited first-aid and CPR training course. Check with your chapter of the American Heart Association, American Red Cross or your local hospital or clinic to see what offerings they may have for a CPR and basic first-aid training course.

However, in new guidelines from the American Heart Association, even people who have no training in CPR may be able to help in an emergency situation by hands-only cardiopulmonary resuscitation. The hands-only technique eliminates a potential hindrance to providing help - fear of mouth-to-mouth contact.

These new guidelines work out to a simple, two-step measure:

Dial 911 to call for emergency medical help.

Push hard and fast on the center of the chest and continue until medical professionals arrive.

It is not dangerous to perform chest compressions even if the heart is still beating. You cannot make a person any worse than he or she already is. You may break ribs, but the alternative is almost certainly death. Only stop compressions when either the person or the medical professionals tell you to stop or you are too tired to continue. Although very important, CPR alone may not restore a heartbeat. A fibrillating heart may require an electric shock to enable it to resume a normal heart beat.

However, until then, chest compressions are the only means to move blood to the patient's brain, heart and other organs. Without chest compressions, a fibrillating heart will use up its energy supply and the person may not survive.

If an automated external defibrillator (AED) is nearby, have someone look for it and take it to the person. Do not delay or interrupt chest compressions in the meantime. Attach the AED to the patient, switch it on and follow the machine's voice instructions. If you are not trained to use an AED, a 911 operator may be able to guide you in its use. Too, instructions from AEDs are so simple that almost anyone can use them without prior training.

If the person has not begun moving after about two minutes and an AED is available, apply it and follow the prompts. The American Heart Association recommends administering one shock, then resuming CPR for two more minutes before administering a second shock. Continue CPR until there are signs of movement or until emergency medical personnel take over.

It's still best to have CPR done in the conventional way by trained medical professionals. The new recommendations apply only to adult cardiac arrest victims outside a hospital setting.

Hands-only CPR should not be used on infants or children or adults whose cardiac arrest is from respiratory causes. Conventional CPR with mouth-to-mouth breathing remains the appropriate technique for persons who are in respiratory arrest.

This information was provided and researched by Gerontology Specialist Dr. Andrew Crocker with Texas AgriLife Extension Service.

In respiratory arrest, the primary problem is not the heart but a lack of oxygen that eventually leads to cardiac arrest. Respiratory arrest may be caused by drug overdose, alcohol intoxication, carbon monoxide poisoning, severe asthma attack, drowning or choking.