Johns Hopkins Health Alerts | Heart Health | Heart Attack Symptoms? Be prepared

The advice is basic – and it could save your life! Johns Hopkins emergency physicians offer practical advice to help you be prepared should you – or someone you love – has a heart attack.

For many people, heart attacks begin gradually and involve little pain or discomfort. In fact, the heart attack symptoms might be so mild or subtle that you aren’t even sure what’s wrong. This uncertainty can lead to lengthy and dangerous delays in making that all-important 911 call. According to the American Heart Association, the following symptoms can indicate a heart attack:

• Heart attack symptom 1: Chest discomfort, particularly if it occurs in the center of the chest and lasts more than a few minutes or comes and goes. The discomfort may also feel like uncomfortable pressure or weight, squeezing, or fullness.
• Heart attack symptom 2: Discomfort in other areas of the upper body, including pain or discomfort in one or both arms, the back, or stomach. Jaw pain is another possible symptom.
• Heart attack symptom 3: Shortness of breath.
• Other possible heart attack symptoms: Cold sweat, nausea, lightheadedness.

In the event of a heart attack a little preparation could help save the life of someone who’s having the heart attack. The American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) recommends that you compile two lists to aid the response to an emergency.

One list should include phone numbers of your family doctor, local hospital, ambulance service, police, and fire department. The list should be placed near each telephone in your home.

The second list should include the following information:

• All your medications and their dosages
• Any known allergies
• Insurance information
• Family contacts in case of an emergency
• Any other information that emergency personnel might find useful (such as other illnesses that you might have).

Keep one copy of this list in a readily accessible place in your home and another copy with you (for example, in your purse or wallet), in the event you are unable to communicate with EMS personnel. The ACEP has developed a Personal Medical History form that you can use for this purpose. It is available on their website: www.acep.org/webportal/PatientsConsumers/MedicalForms.

Link correction: Dec 7, 2007 update We apologize for the outdated link. The ACEP just updated their website, and removed the suggested form. As an alternative, the American Red Cross offers "Tips for Creating an Emergency Health Information Card" at: http://www.redcross.org/services/disaster/beprepared/healthcard.html

Johns Hopkins Health Alerts | Heart Health | Heart Attack Symptoms? Be prepared