The best thing you can do for one another is to realize the importance of calling 911 first when heart attack symptoms appear. Don't try to drive your spouse to the hospital. Call 911.
If the 911 operator tells you to use CPR, follow the new guidelines from the American Heart Association and in an emergency, push on your spouse's chest. Follow the 911 operator's instructions.
Here are some other suggestions which could save your spouse's life.
Difficulty: Average
Time Required: As long as it takes
Here's How:
- Have your spouse stop all physical activity and sit and rest if he/she suddenly starts experiencing a heart attack. Know what the symptoms are. Having a severe pain in their chest is not the only symptom and may not even occur during a heart attack. Don't delay in getting help.
- Call 911 or call out for help if you are not near a telephone.
- In an emergency, if there is no help available and your spouse is unconscious and unresponsive, push fast on your spouse's chest.
- If you are untrained in CPR, do hands-only CPR.
- You don't have to stop to check for improvement.
- Don't stop until help arrives. This is because blood circulation increases with each chest compression. It is important to keep the blood flowing.
Tips:
- Don't advise your spouse to start coughing. That advice that has been circulating around the Internet through an email can not be verified by medical literature. The American Heart Association does not endorse cough CPR.
- Aspirin is known to prevent blood platelets from sticking together and can prevent a clot from getting bigger. The next time you have an appointment with your doctor, ask about the pros and cons of either of you chewing and swallowing one 81 mg. aspirin in an emergency situation.
