This message was forwarded to me and while its somewhat off topic for us if it helps one person it will be worth it.

**********************************************
HOW TO SURVIVE A HEART ATTACK ALONE
If everyone who gets this sends it to 10 people, you can bet that we'll save at least one life.

Let's say it's 6: 15 p. m. and you're driving home (alone of course), after an unusually hard day on the job. You're really tired, upset and frustrated.

Suddenly, you start experiencing severe pain in your chest that starts to radiate out into your arm and up into your jaw. You are only about five miles from the hospital nearest your home; unfortunately you don't know if you'll be able to make it that far. What can you do? You've been trained in CPR but the guy that taught the course neglected to tell you how to perform it on yourself. Since many people are alone when they suffer a heart attack, this article seemed to be in order.

Without help, the person whose heart stops beating properly 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. The cough must be deep and prolonged, as when producing sputum from deep inside the chest. And a cough must be repeated about every 2 seconds without let up until help arrives, or until the heart is felt to be beating normally again.

Deep breaths get oxygen into the lungs and coughing movements squeeze the heart and keep the blood circulating. The squeezing pressure on the heart also helps it regain normal rhythm. In this way, heart attack victims can get to a hospital. Tell as many other people as possible about this, it could save their lives!

From Health Cares, Rochester General Hospital via Chapter 240s newsletter AND THE BEAT GOES ON.

BE A FRIEND AND PLEASE SEND THIS ARTICLE TO AS MANY FRIENDS AS POSSIBLE
**********************************************

 

That is some very very good information!!!!!! I never knew that someone could survive for alittle longer by doing that. Thanks for the info.

 

As a nearly life long sufferer of tachycardia (episodes of rapid heartbeat <220 BPM), I can attest that this coughing technique can revert my heart to normal rhythm when I feel an episode is about to begin. And if it starts up, the deep breathing , and in my case holding it and bearing down usually reverts it back to normal rhythm instantly. Scuba divers may recognize this as the Valsalva technique. Good info that I've been doing for nearly 50 years.

 

Think of coughing up hairballs. Our CPR instructor used that as an example.

 

Don't forget to start taking aspirins.

MikeyB

 

Good advice. Have read this a few times over the years in various publcations, but it is important enough to repeat.
As for the Aspirin's, that too appears to help for prevention. Recent reports are that one child's Aspirin a day is enough.

 

I've read this in the past too, but was recently told by a CPR instructor through the American Heart Association that this simply wasn't true. Anyone else heard that this is a hoax besides me??

 

Sounds like your CPR instuctor needs to go back to school. I have also recently seen this and my wife verifys it. She is a Registered Cardio Vascular Technologist.

This is not a guaranteed science, and won't help everyone, but it can work for some people. Better to try it than not I think.

 

I heard from my one of my past coaches for football that to drink Orange Juice. Is that also true?

 

Maybe it's a Mind-Over-Matter kinda thing.

You're concentrating on driving as well as deep breathing followed by a big cough.
(chewing gum and walking )

Your mind is keeping you alert by doing this, maybe diverting much needed oxygen to the part of the brain that needs it, hopefully long enough to get you to your destination.


phox