There is extensive electrical cabling throughout the heart. Either the pump fails gradually or victims die suddenly. The younger you are the more likely it is that you will die suddenly. Whenever deaths are sudden, the underlying cause is ventricular fibrillation. The point is that if you collapse but get the right help at the right time, you can live another 20 to 30 years of normal productive life.
Defibrillation is the key.
If you don't get defibrillation within three to four minutes, the brain starts to die. In Milwaukee, there is about a 20 percent survival. For Wisconsin it's 11 percent. Proximity to emergency medical treatment is critical to success. But it's worse in large cities like Chicago because of traffic congestion.