Distrust of police prevents many Hispanic Americans from calling 911 when someone is suffering cardiac arrest, a new study reveals.
"Residents of low-income, minority neighborhoods have two strikes against them: The incidence of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest is much higher than average and rates of bystander CPR are below average," said study lead author Dr. Comilla Sasson, of the University of Colorado School of Medicine.
Cardiac arrest, the abrupt loss of heart function, occurs because the heart's electrical system malfunctions. Death can happen instantly or shortly after symptoms appear, according to the American Heart Association.
Researchers interviewed residents of primarily lower-income Hispanic neighborhoods in Denver to learn why they were reluctant to summon emergency medical help, or to perform CPR on victims of cardiac arrest.
[For more of this story go to http://consumer.healthday.com/...udy-says-694421.html]
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