When someone is experiencing a heart attack, every minute counts. You can make a lifesaving difference to that person if you know how to recognise that he/she may be having a heart attack and when to call an Ambulance to take them to a hospital for treatment.

YOU can make the difference between life or death.

How to recognise the signs and symptoms of a heart attack.

♥ Pain; uncomfortable pressure or burning; fullness or squeezing in the centre of the chest, lasting several minutes which gets worse with activity and eases at rest.
♥ Chest pain or discomfort spreading to the shoulders, neck, one or both arms or the jaw.
♥ Chest pain or discomfort spreading into the back or between the shoulder blades.
♥ Chest pain or discomfort associated with dizziness, light-headedness, fainting, sweating, nausea and/or vomiting.
♥ Sudden shortness of breath or difficulty breathing.
♥ Sweating or clamminess of the skin.
♥ Changes in skin colour.

If you see some or all of these symptoms, immediately call 999 or 112 (on a mobile) without delay and then summon the assistance of your local emergency doctor and AED Responders while awaiting the arrival of the ambulance.

Encourage the patient to remain at rest and await the arrival of advanced care. If you are a trained Cardiac First Responder, follow the appropriate protocol for heart attack.

Be aware that a person having a heart attack is at increased risk of becoming a victim of cardiac arrest, so if you know how to perform CPR be prepared to start these steps if your patient becomes unresponsive, collapses and stops breathing normally. If this happens, an AED should be used as soon as it becomes available, while awaiting the arrival of the ambulance.

** Not all the above symptoms are present in every heart attack victim, especially if the person suffers from diabetes or is elderly. Women also tend to have less pronounced symptoms.

Finally symptoms of heart attack can sometimes be confused with heartburn or indigestion and the person having the symptoms will very often deny that there is anything serious happening to them… Be prepared!