First-aid That Can Be Life-saving During a Heart Attack

Heart diseases are one of the major health concerns around the world with more and more people losing their lives to heart attacks and strokes. A rise has been observed in cases of heart attacks, especially among the youngsters.

Heart attack can have symptoms like pain or tightness in chest, fatigue, heart burn or nausea among others. However, sometimes the body offers no red flags and a person can suffer a sudden heart attack. Here, timely intervention becomes crucial and can be life-saving.

While it is advised that a person experiencing heart attack must be immediately rushed to the hospital, there are certain steps you can take to alleviate the patient’s suffering.

During a heart attack, the blood flow to the heart is either blocked or reduced significantly. This can be due to building up of cholesterol, fat or other substances in the arteries carrying blood to the heart. The lack of blood flow eventually causes the tissue in the heart muscle to die resulting in a heart attack.

A person usually experiences chest pain during a heart attack which can be mild for some while severe for others. If you notice someone having a heart attack, giving some first-aid before reaching the hospital can provide much relief to the person. Following are some first-aid tips.

• First of all, make the person sit down and ask him to keep calm and rest.
• Try to loosen any tight clothes worn by the person and open the windows for better ventilation.
• Ask the person if he is taking any chest pain medicine and assist him in having it.
• If the person stops responding or falls unconscious, then immediately dial the emergency number and seek medical help.
• Try performing CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) on the unconscious person while the help arrives.
• Do not leave the person alone until medical professionals tend to him, even if he insists on being fine.