Heart attack (stranger). What could I do to help?!


Question: Yesterday I went to the clinic for some blood tests (anual physical). While waiting for the door to open a car drove in and the woman stopped and began frantically hollering for help. Her husband was having a heart attack.

I'm not trained in any kind of emergency health assistance, but heard that when someone is having a heart-attack, hard coughing can sometimes restore normal heart beat. Unfortunately the man had already lost conciousness, I couldn't tell him to cough. I held his head up and that seemed to help him breath just a little bit - but by no means was his breathing close to adequate.

What more could I have done?

By the way, for those of you who are (as he was) 47 years old and weighing 300 pounds, that's something to think about. I'm 50, and 200 pounds. It shakes you up to think about your health in the face of watching someone die before your eyes.

When the ambulance arrived, he was dead. :(


Answers: Yesterday I went to the clinic for some blood tests (anual physical). While waiting for the door to open a car drove in and the woman stopped and began frantically hollering for help. Her husband was having a heart attack.

I'm not trained in any kind of emergency health assistance, but heard that when someone is having a heart-attack, hard coughing can sometimes restore normal heart beat. Unfortunately the man had already lost conciousness, I couldn't tell him to cough. I held his head up and that seemed to help him breath just a little bit - but by no means was his breathing close to adequate.

What more could I have done?

By the way, for those of you who are (as he was) 47 years old and weighing 300 pounds, that's something to think about. I'm 50, and 200 pounds. It shakes you up to think about your health in the face of watching someone die before your eyes.

When the ambulance arrived, he was dead. :(

CPR could have most likely of saved him. It could have kept his heart beat going till the ambulance came. I did a CPR course. It's very simple but saves lives. It would be good to look into.

Oh what a terrible tragedy!! No there was no more you could have done because you are not trained! If you would like to train for a situation like this you can always take an E.M.T. or C.P.R. course! Hopefully you will never be put in this situation again! I am so sorry for you and also this poor man! I will say some prayers for both of you! Not knowing what to do you did the best thing you could! It seems as though people are getting ill at such an early age these days! Take care! Carol :( :(

you did what you could.. i hope you are not beating yourself up about this..

best regards to you..

By the time they reached you it was too late to do anything - especially since he was unconscious. The man should have chewed 325 mg of aspirin as soon as the symptoms started. Also, it's essential that 911 is called immediately, rather than a family member driving the person to the hospital, since they have the equipment and training to save lives.





The consumer health information on answer-health.com is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for medical advice or treatment for any medical conditions.
The answer content post by the user, if contains the copyright content please contact us, we will immediately remove it.
Copyright © 2007-2011 answer-health.com -   Terms of Use -   Contact us

Health Categories