For Quick Alerts
ALLOW NOTIFICATIONS  
For Daily Alerts

How To Survive A Heart Attack When Alone

By Bhadra Kamalasanan

A heart attack is like an uninvited guest. No matter how healthy you are, your genetics may predispose you to a heart attack in the most unexpected moments. While in the company of another person, you may be able to seek medical attention at the earliest, but there is little scope of survival if you are alone unless you make the right moves.

At least 1.5 million people in the US suffer from heart attacks annually. Of the 1.5 million people, nearly 500,000 die, making this dreadful medical emergency the leading cause of death among Americans.

How To Survive A Heart Attack When Alone

Apparently, if you live in a developed country, the possibilities of you suffering from a heart attack increases significantly compared with those people who live in less developed nations. When you realise that you may be suffering from heart attack through its most common signs, you must essentially act quickly.

Your presence of mind could maximise your survival possibilities. For instance, if you think you may be having a heart attack now, you must seek emergency at once instead of waiting for further symptoms to show up. So, here are a few tips to survive a heart attack when you are alone before further medical treatment is provided.

Know the symptoms
The first step is to know the symptoms of a heart attack. Unless you know what it is hypothetically like to suffer from a heart attack, you would not be able to recognise it when it is happening. Typical heart attack symptoms include tightness or fullness in the chest, shortness of breath and intense pain that radiates from the chest. If there is any sort of uncomfortable pressure, fullness, squeezing or pain in the centre of the chest, you are suffering from a heart attack and it is time to raise an alarm.

Stop everything that you are doing
If you experience the heart attack symptoms while you are driving, pull over the vehicle. Stop everything that you are doing. You must give your body the space and freedom to de-stress. It is possible for the blocks to open up once the muscles of the body are relaxed. This is one of the ways to survive heart attack when alone.

Take Aspirin
Most heart attack cases are caused by formation of blood clots in one of the blood vessels that are responsible for supplying blood to the heart. This blockage can deprive the heart of oxygen-rich blood, which can cause further damage to the heart muscles, which can then progressively die. If you take an aspirin during a heart attack, there is a possibility of preventing the clot from getting bigger, thus giving time to the body to break the clot down. Take aspirin while waiting for your doctor to arrive. This is another good way to survive heart attack.

There are a lot of theories that surround heart attack and how one can try to prevent it or come out of it successfully. But, most of these can be concluded to be myths. If you want to be well-prepared, speak to your doctor about different preventative options.

Story first published: Friday, October 24, 2014, 18:19 [IST]
Read more about: heart wellness