I lost my beautiful, adored father March 13, 1999. He was only 66 years old. Dad had undergone quintuplet bypass surgery in 1990, and had experienced a "mild" heart attack in April, 1998 (we were told "no real damage). We all believed he was okay.
Dad awoke the morning of 3/13 with severe chest pains; after experiencing what he thought was indigestion the night before. The normal rule of thumb was to take 3 nitroglycerins to stop the pain; if that failed...get to the hospital. Well, the nitros were'nt working; he was getting ready to go to the hospital. Within a matter of minutes, Dad was gone. My mother found him stretched across the bed. She supposed he was just resting, letting the pills take effect, when in fact he was lifeless, limp, his face was turning blue and a rattling sound was present. He also had blood around his mouth. My mother tried CPR; not really ever having any training, the paramedics arrived 5 minutes after the call. All normal procedures were performed to no avail. An autopsy was not performed; as based on his history, the doctor believed Ventricular Fibrillation was the cause of death.
My questions: I know ventribular fibrillation is a chaotic heart rhythm. What exactly happens during this mode? How could he have died so quickly? Was there pain? What actually happens? I was told it is the most peaceful death. Also, if an aspirin had been taken instead of the nitros, could that have helped the situation? Why didn't the nitros help?
Please respond with any input you feel appropriate to help me/us better understand what actually happened to my father. Thank you.