First Aid For Your Heart
Quit smoking
Lose excess weight
Exercise regularly (minimum 2.5 hours a week)
Eat a low fat, high fibre diet with 5 portions of fruit and vegetables a day and 2 portions of fish a week
Moderate your alcohol consumption
Heart attacks occur when there is a sudden blockage of the blood supply to the heart, usually caused by a clot from the build-up of fatty deposits in the coronary arteries.
As coronary heart disease (cholesterol build up) is the leading cause of heart attacks, to reduce your risk you need to:
Quit smoking
Lose excess weight
Exercise regularly (minimum 2.5 hours a week)
Eat a low fat, high fibre diet with 5 portions of fruit and vegetables a day and 2 portions of fish a week
Moderate your alcohol consumption
Everyone aged between 40-74 is eligible for a free NHS Health Check in England. If you have a family history of heart disease, please let your GP know and arrange a health check.
The location of the blockage in the heart will determine how much of the heart muscle gets starved of oxygen and therefore damaged. This then dictates the outcome for the casualty. They may be still conscious and breathing (minor heart attack) or unconscious and not breathing (major heart attack).
Minor heart attack
The signs and symptoms of a minor heart attack vary but may include:
Crushing central chest pain (not to be confused with indigestion) which can radiate up to their jaw, down their left arm or their back (sometimes only minor or none at all, especially in women and older people)
Shortness of breath and tightening of the chest
Feeling weak, lightheaded or nauseous
Face going grey and sweaty
A 'sense of impending doom'
Always call 999 and whilst waiting for the paramedics, sit them down in the W position so leaning back against a wall with their knees bent up, and give them 300mg aspirin to chew (maybe 1, 2 or 4 tablets so check the packet) to help thin the blood. However do check that they are not allergic to aspirin before administering it.
Major heart attack
A major heart attack can cause a cardiac arrest, where the heart stops pumping effectively, so they need immediate CPR and a defibrillator.
These are 2 links in the Chain of Survival - a series of steps which if performed quickly in the right order give the best chance of survival from a cardiac arrest when not in a hospital. If you start CPR within 2 minutes, place a defibrillator on their chest in 4 minutes and a paramedic arrives in 8 minutes, then they have a 40% chance of survival.
1. Early recognition & call for help: when a casualty is not breathing normally get someone to call 999 (or 112 if overseas). If there is a public defibrillator nearby send for that too.
2. Early CPR: to buy life-saving time by pumping oxygenated blood around their body until a defibrillator arrives.
3. Early defibrillation: for every minute the patient doesn’t have a defibrillator attached to their chest, their chances of survival reduce by 7-10%.
4. Post-resuscitation care: is delivered by Paramedics and includes the administration of medicines and advanced airway procedures, prior to the arrival of the patient at hospital.
Like any chain, it is only as strong as its weakest link, so if one stage is poor the chances of successful resuscitation are compromised.
To be prepared it’s always best to attend a first aid course, as it’s better to have the skills and not need them than the alternative, but also remember that if someone is having a cardiac arrest, anything that you do is better than nothing.
Article written by First Aid Expert Trainer Louise Worsley from www.worsleytraining.co.uk
I hope you enjoyed this article and took some useable knowledge from it to help you understand your biology and meet your needs in relation to your goals. Please leave a comment, press the heart button and share it to help more people take control of their health, well-being and fitness.
Samantha