How to Survive a Heart Attack: Symptoms and First Aid for Heart Attack

**NOTE: Propped Up position is better than lying down position in most cases of heart attacks.
Sources:
a) Sent John Ambulance: sja.org.uk/sja/first-aid-advice/heart/heart-att…
b) Red Cross: redcross.org.uk/first-aid/learn-first-aid/heart…

Did you know that some heart attacks can kill you within minutes? Are you equipped with the knowledge to save your own life from this dangerous medical emergency? Are you aware of the symptoms and first aid of a heart attack?
Can Cough CPR, where the patient coughs vigorously, keep you alive during a heart attack?


During a heart attack, arteries of the heart get blocked, preventing the heart from receiving adequate oxygen-rich blood. This can result in a severe constricting like pain in the center of the chest. The pain typically radiates to left jaw and left arm and is usually associated with shortness of breath, sweating and vomiting.
But there many atypical ways a heart attack presents. Sometimes as mild chest pain, or as neck pain, shoulder pain, numbness in your arms, or even as upper abdominal pain. Some diabetic patients may not develop any pain at all.
Assume you are having a heart attack, When the pain is severe or if it lasts at least 3 minutes, or it was brought on by exertion or if it is associated with other symptoms like sweating, nausea or shortness of breath.
Heart attacks usually don’t kill instantly. But sometimes the oxygen shortage can trigger some dangerous arrhythmias such as ventricular fibrillation. A fibrillating heart is not beating properly. This leads to the infamous condition called Cardiac Arrest, which can kill you within minutes.
If you suspect you are having a heart attack, this is how you should act.
Step one: You should inform others around you. They could be your family, friends or even total strangers. If you deteriorated fast to the point you are unable to respond effectively, others can care for you.
Step two: Get someone to Call 911 immediately. Getting the treatments as soon as possible will prevent long term cardiac damage. If nobody is around you, make the call yourself.
Step three: Chew a 325mg uncoated Aspirin tablet. Do not swallow it. Chewing will cause the aspirin to reach your bloodstream rapidly. Aspirin is a blood thinner. Therefore do not replace it with any other pain killer. However, if you have a known allergy to Aspirin, do not take it.
You can place a tri-nitro-glycerine under your tongue. It will help you to relieve the pain, but don’t expect it to save your life.
Step four: Lie down and relax. Wait for the emergency medical team to arrive. When you are relaxed and less anxious the workload of the heart is reduced.
Taking full, deep breaths will improve the oxygen flow and will calm you down. Breathe slowly and comfortably. Do not take rapid short breaths.
You can loosen the tight clothes, and remind yourself that everything is going to be alright because, so far, you have handled everything correctly.

Step five: Prepare someone for Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation or CPR. Ask around to see if someone knows how to perform CPR. If not, find someone willing to be coached on CPR by the EMT team over the phone. In most cases, you won’t need CPR. But as I explained earlier, rarely a heart attack can lead to cardiac arrest. That’s when you will need CPR.
When a person goes into cardiac arrest, he or she will be unresponsive and will stop breathing. That’s when CPR should be started.
If the person giving CPR is untrained, it is best if they avoid mouth to mouth breaths, and only concentrate on giving chest compressions at a rate of hundred compressions per minute.

All right, now we come to the COUGH CPR.
Almost all the evidence-based guidelines such as the American Heart Association, American Red cross and Resuscitation council- UK, reject this practice.
Resuscitation Council of UK states that most patients having heart attacks will not go into cardiac arrest, and by attempting ‘cough CPR’ they could make their condition worse.
Bottom line is that COUGH CPR is not effective in heart attacks.
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