Heart attack – First aid
On an average, a person with symptoms of a heart attack waits for 3 hours before seeking help. Many heart attack victims die before they reach a hospital. The sooner the person gets to the emergency room, the higher the chance of survival. Prompt medical treatment also reduces the amount of damage done to the heart following an attack.
- Make the person sit down, rest, and try to keep calm.
- Loosen tight clothes
- Help the person take medicines, if already under medication
- If the pain does not go away at once on resting or within 3 minutes of taking medication, call for emergency medical help.
- If not, seek medical help
- Give artifical respiration if required
- Do not leave the person alone except if you need to call for help
- Do not allow the person to dismiss the symptoms and convince you not to call for emergency help.
- Do not wait to see if the symptoms go away.
- Do not make the person eat anything except a heart medication that has been prescribed.
Image: Flickr/creativecommons marvinxsteadfast
More on heart health this week:
Wednesday: Heart health quiz
Thursday: Share your first hand experiences
Friday: Post operative care for your heart