Dos And Don'ts In The Event Of A Heart Attack

A possible symptom of heart attack may be severe chest pain

Severe chest pain and a​ combination of the following symptoms can mean a person is having an acute heart attack. Severe chest pain is often described by patients as the worst pain of their lives, and is likened to something very heavy pressing on the chest.

Symptoms of a heart attack:

• Possible symptoms of a heart attack ​​include the following:
• Pain that appears to spread up to the neck or down to the left arm
• Breathlessness
• Sweating
• Feeling faint and/or nausea
• Risk factors of heart attack
• A history of heart problems

The patient is:

• Elderly
• Smokes

The patient suffers from:

• Diabetes
• High blood pressure
• High cholesterol

Dos and don'ts in the event of a heart attack:
Dos

• Call for an ambulance.
• Paramedics should be trained to stabilise the patient’s condition with medication, and the ambulance be equipped with a defibrillator to resuscitate the patient should the heart stop en route.
• Get ready the patient’s personal effects such as personal identification, medical insurance and other documents for admission.
• Have the patient seated in a location where he can be transferred easily to a stretcher.
• Let the paramedics know about any drug allergies or past medical history

Don’ts

• Drive or take public transport to the hospital, even if the patient lives nearby. As the patient’s condition may deteriorate en route, it is safer to wait for an ambulance. Also, ambulances also get priority on arriving at a&e.
• Ignore the pain. Get anxious about time wasted when the paramedics perform an on-site ecg.