surving a HEART ATTACK

[Walrus]

A cardiologist says If everyone who gets this mail sends it to 10 people, you can bet that we'll save at least one life. Read this... It could save your life!! Let's say it's 6.15 pm and you're driving home (alone of course), after an unusually hard day on the job. You're really tired, upset and frustrated. Suddenly you start experiencing severe pain in your chest that starts to radiate out into your arm and up into your jaw. You are only about five miles from the hospital nearest your home. Unfortunately you don't know if you'll be able to make it that far. You have been trained in CPR, but the guy that taught the course did not tell you how to perform it on yourself.

HOW TO SURVIVE A HEART ATTACK WHEN ALONE Since many people are alone when they suffer a heart attack, without help, the person whose heart is beating improperly and who begins to feel faint, has only about 10 seconds left before losing consciousness. However, these victims can help themselves by coughing repeatedly and very vigorously. A deep breath should be taken before each cough, and the cough must be deep and prolonged, as when producing sputum from deep inside the chest. A breath and a cough must be repeated about every two seconds without let-up until help arrives, or until the heart is felt to be beating normally again. Deep breaths get oxygen into the lungs and coughing movements squeeze the heart and keep the blood circulating. The squeezing pressure on the heart also helps it regain normal rhythm. In this way, heart attack victims can get to a hospital. Tell as many other people as possible about this. It could save their lives!!

BE A FRIEND AND PLEASE SEND THIS ARTICLE TO AS MANY FRIENDS AS POSSIBLE

Today is the third time I am getting this email from frens and I am sure everyone must have gotten this many times till now.

Shall we have a discussion on it.

The answer to whether this holds true or not is clear.

So, what U suggest one should do when one is alone in top of a hill and he gets these signs of ''HEART ATTACK''

[Walrus]

No one? . . . .

[necrosis]

hareee k bhanne yar yesto fwd mail laai mail ta mail yeha pani chodena

[Sarensa]

I dont know how much is it true but if it really saves life then why not share with others. But will one undergoing heart attack be able to do so when he has a sever pain. He will be in fright of impending death will one remember to do so?????

[Walrus]

Sarensa,

This email circulated is just an urban legend and does not work. I found some of my friends circulating these and warned them and also put this here just so that we doctors ourself don't make mistake of suggesting this to others. And, am looking for things we can do if we find ourself in such situation - top of a hill and getting these symptoms.

The procedure described is Cough-CPR and is a valid method but in some other situations.

I don't have much knowledge on Cough-CPR but I think on those situation, coughing can cause more harm than good. When coughing, U do not inhale enough oxygen, you are holding the breath and exhaling more than inhaling. Coughing may be deleterious. And also, when U are coughing, the pressure inside the chest rises and the blood supply to the heart muscles may be less than needed.

CPR is not done in cases of Heart attacks but done when patient has cardiac arrest.

Even in Cardiac arrest, cough-CPR may not be appropriate. American Heart Association says Cough-CPR may not be appropriate. I tried searching for articles in PubMed if there have been any study about Cough-CPR. Well, there have been but all were in-hospital procedures with monitoring and for a different purpose. Like, a patient with heart-attack who is given thrombolytic therapy has cardiac arrest with a V. Fib then U cannot do the classical CPR. There was one report on successful use of Cough-CPR in such case. Others were used during cardiac procedures and may be same won't be true for out-of-hospital situations. The first thing is that the person will not know he will be having cardiac arrest - that will need to be seen by ECG monitoring.

So, Cough-CPR should not be relied on.

So, I think the wisest thing to do if U get those symptoms of MI are to not panic, find a way to reach the hospital the fastest without exerting, and if available chew Aspirin.

[Walrus]

So, my question was - what to do if U r in such situation?

[SUMAN-SAJAN]

I dont know much about it
but let me discuss it with my seniors , then ill share my ideas here .