What To Do If You Think You Are Having A Heart Attack

Many people are alone, maybe even driving, when they experience symptoms of a heart attack - severe pain in the chest that starts to radiate into their arm or jaw. If you find yourself in this situation, follow the advice below immediately as you may only have 10 seconds before you lose consciousness:

1. Try not to panic
2. Start coughing repeatedly and very vigorously
3. Take a deep breath before each cough
4. The cough must be deep and prolonged, as if you were producing sputum from deep inside the chest
5. A breath and a cough must be repeated about every 2 seconds until help arrives or until your heart beat feels normal again
6. If help isn’t at hand, you must contact the emergency services immediately for assistance by dialing 999.

Deep breathing gets oxygen to the lungs and the coughing movements squeeze the heart to keep blood circulating. Squeezing pressure on the heart also helps to regain normal rhythm.