Emergency Cards EN

International

Heart attack

Reviewed

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

Do this first

Call 112 now. Sit the person down half upright and keep them still.

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

Step by step

  1. Call 112 straight away and say chest pain, so the dispatcher sends the right team.
  2. Sit the person down with their back supported and knees bent, half sitting. Do not let them walk about.
  3. Loosen tight clothing at the neck and waist, and open a window.
  4. Ask about 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 300 mg aspirin tablet.
  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 medication.
  • Do not let them walk to the car or climb stairs.

Call emergency services if

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

Common questions

What if it turns out to be nothing?

Then a doctor rules it out and you have lost nothing. Emergency services would far rather come to a false alarm than arrive too late.

Aspirin, yes or no?

Only when a dispatcher or doctor says so, only if the person is awake and swallowing safely, and never if they are allergic or have been told to avoid it.

Next cards

Sources and standards

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