Coughing Will Not Fend Off a Heart Attack
An email that spread around the world like a contagious disease a few years ago, claimed that anyone who feels heart attack symptoms while alone should cough repeatedly and very vigorously, repeating a breath about every two seconds until help arrives or a normal heartbeat returns. This is WRONG and according to an eminent cardiologist Dr.Cary Fishbein from the Dayton Heart Centre, is right up there with voodoo!
The coughing technique known as “cough CPR” has been used in hospitals by physicians to treat sudden irregular heartbeats in monitored patients during cardiac catheterization procedures. In these cases, a responsive patient who develops a sudden irregular heartbeat could possibly maintain blood flow to the brain and remain conscious for a few seconds if they cough vigorously and forcefully while being directed by a physician. Traditional CPR is not used to treat heart attack victims who remain conscious – but only if the heart attack if followed by cardiac arrest, the American Heart Association.
WHAT TO DO WHEN YOU THINK YOU ARE HAVING A HEART ATTACK:
- CALL 911
- Take four baby aspirin OR one adult aspirin and chew it. (You want a total of 324- 325mg. Four baby aspirin=324mg and is best because they’re made to be chewable. One adult aspirin=325mg). Do not swallow the aspirin!!
- Keep comfortable and try to relax!
- Be prepared to answer a lot of questions the paramedics may ask including, your age (911 dispatchers will ask you their age anyway), if you’ve a heart attack or any heart problems before, when you started having the chest pain, what the pain feels like, does the pain go anywhere, etc.
Don’t worry about the recovery position, and you do not need to raise your legs. If you’re hypotensive, you should lie down. If they have CHF, you should probably NOT lie down. So just make yourself comfortable and don’t do any crazy activity.
Aspirin is actually the only medication the AHA recommends in heart attack prevention. It’s much better to take to take it before the paramedics arrive. If you don’t, the paramedics will give it to you as soon as they arrive. It’s in EVERY chest pain protocol for a paramedic.
Visit http://www.heartandstroke.com for more information.
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