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Self care for heart attacks
Source Barbara Misenti
Date 03/06/23/01:45

HOW TO SURVIVE A HEART ATTACK ALONE
If everyone who gets this sends it to 10 people, you can bet
that we'll saveat least one life. Let's say it's 6:15 p.m. and
you're driving home (alone of course), after an unusually hard
day on the job. You're really tired, upset and frustrated.
Suddenly you start experiencing severe pain in your chest that
starts to radiate out into your arm and up into your jaw. You are
only about five miles from the hospital nearest your home;
unfortunately you don't know if you'll be able to make it that
far. What can you do? You've been trained in CPR but the guy that
taught the course neglected to tell you how to perform it on
yourself. Since many people are alone when they suffer a heart
attack, this article seemed to be in order. Without help, the
person whose heart stops beating properly and who begins to feel faint, has
only
about 10 seconds left before losing consciousness.
However, these victims can help themselves by coughing
repeatedly and very vigorously. A deep breath should be taken
before each cough. The cough must be deep and prolonged, as when
producing sputum from the chest. And a cough must be repeated
about every 2 seconds without let up until help arrives, or until
the heart is felt to be beating normally again. Deep breaths get
oxygen into the lungs and coughing movements squeeze the heart
and keep the blood circulating and help it regain normal rhythm.
In this way, heart attack victims can get to a hospital. Tell
as many other people as possible about this, it may save their
lives From Health Cares, Rochester General Hospital

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