Cardiac arrest occurs when the heart’s electrical control system breaks down, abruptly halting its ability to pump blood to the brain and other vital organs. The most common trigger is ventricular fibrillation, in which the lower chambers of the heart quiver chaotically instead of contracting in a coordinated beat. It may also result from ventricular tachycardia, a dangerously rapid rhythm that prevents the heart from filling and pumping effectively. In more severe cases, electrical activity may cease entirely—a condition known as asystole—or electrical signals may persist without producing a heartbeat, a state called pulseless electrical activity.
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