Updated: 12-06-2025
What Are The First Aid Tips For a Heart Attack?
Have you ever come across a person suffering from a heart attack in front of you? Did you make yourself helpless?
Well, here are the first aid tips for heart attacks that help you save someone’s life.
In recent times, there is increasing awareness seen in people who are seeking first-aid tips for heart issues when alone.
This is because cardiovascular problems, subsuming myocardial infarctions or heart attacks, have become public healthcare problems throughout the globe.
First aid tips are helpful for every individual and not just for healthcare employees.
Any tragedy can occur at any time, and some needy may require your assistance; you never know!
Therefore, it is vital to have skills in first aid tips for heart attacks that may assist in saving a life.
What is a heart attack?
A heart attack is a serious condition that happens when blood circulation to the heart is suddenly blocked, generally by a blood clot.
Many people make a complete recovery from a heart attack.
However, there will be a serious risk that the heart may stop beating, known as cardiac arrest.
It is essential that you treat someone suffering from a heart attack immediately, else they could die.
Individuals suffering from a heart attack experience the following conditions:
- Painful pressure, squeezing, and fullness in the chest
- Uneasiness or pain dispersal over the chest to the shoulders, jaw, neck, teeth, or one or both arms, or sometimes the upper abdomen
- Sweating
- Breathe Shortness
- Nausea
- Lightheadedness, fainting, dizziness
A heart attack usually causes chest pain for over 15 minutes; however, in some cases, it has no symptoms.
Numerous people who experience heart attacks have cautionary signs hours, days, or weeks in advance.
What to look for – Heart attack
If you find someone suffering from a heart attack, seek four points, such as:
- Pain, a nonstop pain in the chest, which can spread to other parts like the jaw, neck, or arms
- Rapid Weak pulse
- Pale skin
- Sweating
First aid tips for a heart attack
If you find someone having a heart attack, you need to follow the first aid tips for heart attacks below to save their life.
- Never overlook a person suffering from chest pain
- Make the person sit at a slightly reclined angle
- Make the person sit down, take a rest, and try to keep him or her calm.
- Loosen his or her tight clothes.
- Ask the person whether he or she takes any chest pain medicines like nitroglycerin for a recognised heart condition, and assist them in taking it.
- If a person still experiences pain within 3 minutes of taking nitroglycerin, call for emergency medical assistance.
- If a person is in an unconscious condition and unresponsive, call your local emergency number, then start CPR.
- In case of an infant or child in an unresponsive and unconscious condition, perform 1 minute of CPR, then call emergency services.
- A person suffering from a heart attack should receive medical care within one hour.
These are the first aid tips for heart attacks, and follow them for a healthy heart.
Note points while performing First aid tips for a heart attack when alone
- Patients are also advised to chew or swallow aspirin, unless they are allergic to aspirin or have been advised by a doctor never to take aspirin.
- However, seek emergency assistance first, such as calling 911.
- This is one of the first aid tips for heart attacks.
- Nitroglycerin can be taken only if it is prescribed by the doctor because the intake of unprescribed medications can put patients’ lives in more danger.
- Start CPR only if the patient is unconscious.
- Tell 911 emergency medical specialists about the unconscious state of the patient.
- Then they may advise you to start cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR).
- In case you are not aware of CPR or have not received CPR training, you are recommended to skip mouth-to-mouth rescue breathing & do only chest compressions for around 100 per minute.
- The dispatcher can teach you the proper procedures till help arrives.
- If an automatic or mechanical external defibrillator (AED) is accessible and the individual is unconscious, start CPR when the device is retrieved as well as set up.
Don’ts
- Do not leave the patient unaccompanied, except to call for assistance – that too, if necessary.
- Do not permit the patient to repudiate the symptoms & persuade you not to call for emergency assistance.
- Do not wait to see symptoms leave.
- Do not provide the patient with anything by mouth except if the heart medication has been prescribed by his or her doctor earlier.
Prevention of heart attacks
Individuals suffering from heart attacks must follow the steps below to prevent them:
- Quit smoking, as it results in a development risk of developing heart disease.
- Maintain blood pressure, diabetes, and cholesterol in control and follow the doctor’s prescription.
- Try to lose weight if you are overweight.
- Do regular exercise to improve heart health
- Have a healthy heart diet. Intake of limited saturated fats, sugars and red meat. Improve the fish, chicken, vegetables, whole grains, and fresh fruit intake.
Limit the consumption of alcohol. It’s better to avoid alcohol. Alcohol consumption can harm the heart & may cause other medical issues or ailments.
Generally, we prefer a doctor chosen by our family doctor or any general doctor whom we choose to get advice from.
But this is the peak time to find out the best cardiologist in your area before visiting any doctor. So, here are the ways to find the best cardiologist in Hyderabad
“Allocate a few seconds to comment on this article.”
