Heart Attack 411

How do I know if I'm having a heart attack?

The pain of a heart attack can feel like bad heartburn. You may also be having a heart attack if you:
Feel a pressure or crushing pain in your chest, sometimes with sweating, nausea or vomiting
Feel pain that extends from your chest into the jaw, left arm or left shoulder.
Feel tightness in your chest
Have shortness of breath for more than a couple of seconds
Don't ignore the pain or discomfort. If you think you are having heart problems or a heart attack, get help immediately. The sooner you get treatment, the greater the chance that the doctors can prevent further damage to the heart muscle.

What should I do if I think I am having a heart attack?

Right away, call for an ambulance to take you to the hospital. While you wait for the ambulance to come, chew one regular tablet of aspirin. Don't take the aspirin if you're allergic to aspirin.
If you can, go to a hospital with advanced care facilities for people with heart attacks. In these medical centers, the latest heart attack technology is available 24 hours a day. This technology includes rapid thrombolysis (breaking up clots using medicines called "clot busters"), cardiac catheterization and angioplasty.
In the hospital, you might be given "clot busters" that reopen the arteries to your heart very fast. Nurses and technicians will place an IV line (intravenous line) in your arm to give you medicines. They will also do an electrocardiogram (ECG or EKG), give you oxygen to breathe, and watch your heart rate and rhythm on a monitor.