Seeing as we are nearing the end of February I thought I would throw this one at you this week.
Do you know what to do if you had a suspected heart attack and you were on your own? No? Well I
didn't either, and all the first aid training teaches is how to help someone else, not what to do if you are on your own as are most people when this occurs. If your heart is not working properly and you start to feel faint you have approximately 10 seconds before falling unconscious.
1. Phone 999 if you can get to a phone...at least if you do go unconscious emergency help will be on its way
2. Cough repeatedly. A deep breath must be taken before every cough and the cough must be hard and prolonged as if trying to cough from the bottom of your lungs. This should be repeated every two seconds for as long as you are able. The deep breath gets oxygen into the lungs and the vigorous cough help squeeze the heart to keep the circulation going.
Just picturing myself doing this has me in fits of giggles but I also
know what I will be trying to do if I suffer a heart attack on my own.
