Emergency Cards EN-US

United States

Heart attack

Reviewed

Use at your own risk. For education and research only, not medical advice. Check the numbers and rules for the country you are in. They change. Before you rely on these cards, have a medical professional or a fire safety specialist review them. Disclaimer

Do this first

Call 911 now. Sit the person down, half upright, and keep them still.

A heart attack is blocked blood flow to the heart muscle, and every minute of delay destroys more of it. Most people wait too long because they hope it is indigestion.

Step by step

  1. Call 911 straight away and say chest pain, so the dispatcher sends the right team.
  2. Sit the person down half upright, with their back supported and knees bent. Do not let them walk around.
  3. Loosen tight clothing at the neck and waist, and open a window.
  4. Ask whether they have prescribed nitrate spray or tablets, and help them take their own medication.
  5. If the dispatcher advises it and the person is fully awake and not allergic, they can slowly chew one regular 325 mg aspirin, or four low-dose 81 mg tablets.
  6. Stay with them, keep them calm and note the time the pain started.
  7. If they lose consciousness and stop breathing normally, start CPR immediately.

Never do this

  • Do not drive them to hospital yourself. An ambulance starts treatment on the way.
  • Do not give food or drink, apart from their own medication.
  • Do not let them walk to the car or climb stairs.

Call emergency services if

  • Chest pressure or pain that lasts more than a few minutes, or comes and goes.
  • Pain spreading to the arm, jaw, neck, back or stomach, with sweating, nausea or breathlessness.
  • Sudden severe breathlessness, gray skin or a feeling of doom. Women, older people and people with diabetes often have no chest pain at all.

Common questions

What if it turns out to be nothing?

Then a doctor rules it out and nothing is lost. Emergency services would much rather attend a false alarm than arrive too late.

Aspirin, yes or no?

Only if a dispatcher or doctor says so, the person is awake and can swallow safely, and they are not allergic or have not been told to avoid it.

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Sources and standards

Use at your own risk. For education and research only, not medical advice. Check the numbers and rules for the country you are in. They change. Before you rely on these cards, have a medical professional or a fire safety specialist review them.