Surviving an attack

A forward that might help...

Let's say it's around 10 PM and you are going home (alone of course), after an unusually hard day on the job. You are really tired, upset and frustrated. Suddenly you start experiencing severe pain in yourchest that starts to adiate out into your arm and upinto your jaw. You are only about five miles from the hospital nearest your home or to somebody who can help you out.

Unfortunately you do not know if you will be able to make it that far. You havebeen trained in CPR, but the guy that taught thecourse did not tell you how to perform it on yourself. So how do you cope with the situation?

Since many people are alone when they suffer a heartattack, without help, the person whose heart is beating improperly 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, and the cough must be deepand prolonged, as when producing sputum from deepinside the chest. A breath and a cough must be repeated about every twoseconds without let-up until help arrives, or untilthe heart is felt to be beating normally again.

Deep breaths get oxygen into the lungs and coughingmovements squeeze the heart and keep the bloodcirculating. The squeezing pressure on the heart also helps it regain normal rhythm. In this way, heart attack victims can get themselves to the nearest hospital or helping point.