Cardiac arrest v.s.respiratory failure?

(Im in Paramedic training)

Need some help...
If your body goes into cardiac arrest does your body suddenly have respiratory failure?

pretty much!!!! no blood pumping...no gas exchange...no breathing.....good luck in the training............elaborating from before ,as mentioned by other so qualified persons..if they read your question you said respiratory failure not respiratory arrest. you can get agonal breathing seconds after a cardiac arrest that by all costs is respiratory failure so yes you do have respiratory failure with cardiac arrest. People who feel the need to post their qualifcations with their questions need to be questioned themselves...

my dad just passed away from cardio problems...not expected and yes he went right into respiratory problems....good luck in school!

I'm a nurse and the two go hand in hand. When a person is having a MI (myocardial Infarction or heart attack) the person has SOB (shortness of breath). So the heart attack has all these symptoms together, SOB, pain in the left arm, jaw pain, clammy skin, chest pain, and you may even see them vomit. If the person goes out on you then if left untreated will experience respiratory failure as a result. Depending on the length of time with no oxygen the person could recover with some brain damage. I hope this is useful, take care.

Not necessarily. You can go into respiratory arrest, and still have a heart beat. Or you can go into cardiac arrest and still be breathing. If you do both it is referred to as a full arrest.

That said, the cardiac and respiratory system work very close together. If you lose one system, it wont be long before the other is compromised as well. One system can be supported by a mechanical device, someone can live with one system failing. Example is Christopher Reaves (superman) He couldn't breathe at all but his heart still worked. He was on a ventilator 24-7. Others have internal pacemakers to pump the heart for them. And they breathe fine.

I hope this helps.

Cardiac arrest means that your heart has stopped woking. Respiratory failure means that the lungs are not doing thier job.

Matt's right. I've responded to many "Code Blue" calls in various hospitals, and I've seen alot of people die. Either system can work temporarily without the other, but not for long without assistance.