I am very glad your father made it! I guess he was at the hospital when he went into cardiac arrest, or maybe he had called 911 and the life squad was at his home?
About a month or so, forget exactly how long it was, after my heart attack I went into a bad tachycardia doing squats in my basement. I was trying to maintain some development even after my heart attack. I also wasn't on a beta blocker and did not have my defibrillator yet.
I had my wife call 911 after about 15 minutes of having the tachycardia, it would not resolve on its own. Took the damn squad about 20 minutes to arrive here and they hooked me up to an ekg when they arrived. By the time they were hooking me up I went into V fib and went unconscious. Like what happened to your dad. They shocked me with the defibrillator 2x to get my heart started back up and they told me afterwards I was in cardiac arrest. I would have died that day. In my thread I described the out of body experience I had. Did you dad have one?
Now I have a defibrillator in my chest and it has saved me 4 more times from death. So I have used about 6 lives now, think I have 3 more left! Does your father have a defibrillator like me? Wondering what the docs recommended. I would be scared if I were him and didn't have one.
A lot of people don't realize you can die from cardiac arrest and not even have a heart attack. It sounds like that is how Tom Petty just died. Sudden cardiac arrest. From a web site:
"What Is Sudden Cardiac Arrest?
Sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) is a condition in which the heart suddenly and unexpectedly stops beating. If this happens, blood stops flowing to the brain and other vital organs.
SCA usually causes death if it's not treated within minutes.
Overview
To understand SCA, it helps to understand how the heart works. The heart has an electrical system that controls the rate and rhythm of the heartbeat. Problems with the heart's electrical system can cause irregular heartbeats called arrhythmias.
There are many types of arrhythmias. During an arrhythmia, the heart can beat too fast, too slow, or with an irregular rhythm. Some arrhythmias can cause the heart to stop pumping blood to the body—these arrhythmias cause SCA.
SCA is not the same as a heart attack. A heart attack occurs if blood flow to part of the heart muscle is blocked. During a heart attack, the heart usually doesn't suddenly stop beating. SCA, however, may happen after or during recovery from a heart attack.
People who have heart disease are at higher risk for SCA. However, SCA can happen in people who appear healthy and have no known heart disease or other risk factors for SCA.
Outlook
Most people who have SCA die from it—often within minutes. Rapid treatment of SCA with a defibrillator can be lifesaving. A defibrillator is a device that sends an electric shock to the heart to try to restore its normal rhythm.
Automated external defibrillators (AEDs) can be used by bystanders to save the lives of people who are having SCA. These portable devices often are found in public places, such as shopping malls, golf courses, businesses, airports, airplanes, casinos, convention centers, hotels, sports venues, and schools."
from this source:
https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/health-topics/topics/scda/
I am just thinking that since Dallas didn't have complete blockage of any of his coronary arteries and they never mention a MI that maybe this is what happened to him. Of course his diseased heart is why it happened though.