Heart Attack First Aid
By: Robert NamTotal Views: 198, Word Count: 536,
When an artery supplying your heart with oxygen and blood becomes partly or completely blocked, you could suffer from a heart attack. This failure of blood flow destroys or injures part of your heart muscle. A heart attack normally causes chest pain for more than 15 minutes, but at times could also have no symptoms at all.
The warning symptoms could be seen hours, days or weeks in advance in people who experience a heart attack. The initial warning sign of an attack might be the chest pain that begin when you’re physically active, but is relieved by rest. Heart attack first aid is very important to calm down a person before taking him/her to the hospital. The first aid is given immediately when a person suffers an attack and before the treatment starts.
A person having a heart attack might experience any or all of the following:
· Painful pressure, fullness or squeezing pain in the middle of the chest
· Extended pain in the upper abdomen
· Uneasiness or pain spreading further than the chest to the shoulders, jaw, neck, teeth or one or both arms.
· Shortness of breathing, dizziness, faintness, sweating and queasiness
If you or someone is having a heart attack, you need to do the following as heart attack first aid:
· Call 911 or your Local Emergency Medical Assistance Number: Don’t watch out the symptoms of a heart attack for more than 5 minutes. Have a neighbor or a friend take you to the nearest hospital in case you don’t have access to emergency medical services. Drive yourself only as a last option if there is completely no other choice and understand that it could place you and others at risk when you drive under these conditions.
· Chew and Swallow an Aspirin: You need to chew and swallow an aspirin unless you’re sensitive to aspirin or have been told by your doctor not to take it. However, you need to look for emergency help first such as calling on 911.
· Take Nitroglycerin: You must take nitroglycerin if prescribed by your doctor. Take nitroglycerin immediately as directed if you think that you’re having a heart attack and your doctor has formerly prescribed nitroglycerin for you. Never take anyone else’s nitroglycerin as that could put you in more danger.
· Begin CPR: If you’re with a person who could be having a heart attack and he/she is not conscious, tell the 911 sender or another emergency medical expert. You might be recommended to begin cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). Doctors advise skipping mouth to mouth rescue breathing and performing only chest compressions if you haven’t received any training on CPR. The sender could instruct you the proper measures until help arrives.
If you succeed in resuscitating the person who has been taken ill, he/she might be confused and alarmed by all the turmoil. Always keep the patient warm and calm by quietly and clearly telling him as to what has happened. Once more, it needs to be emphasized that the only way to provide proper first heart attack first aid and resuscitation is by learning the technique and practicing it regularly by proper guidance.
About the Author
Dr. Robert Nam is a well known heart specialist and has done postgraduate training in cardiology at the national heart hospital, the London chest hospital and UCL hospital, London. He was also engaged in research at the national heart and lung institute. Nowadays he is working as a consultant cardiologist at UCL hospital, London.
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