World Heart Day 2014: What you should do when someone suffers a heart attack

September 29 is the World Heart Day.

Heart disease is one of the leading cause of death all over the world. The number of cases related to heart diseases have increased significantly in the past few years allied to the sedentary lifestyle, stress and unhealthy eating habits. Although lack of proper awareness about the factors responsible for increasing the risk of heart disease is known to be the key reason, there are few things that every person should be aware of. One of them is the first-aid steps that a person should do when an individual suffers from a chest pain, an important sign of heart attack. 

Here are some significant inputs from our expert Dr. Amar Singhal, HOD, Cardiology, Delhi based Sri Balaji Action Medical Institute on first-aid practices to follow, when a person suffers from a chest pain.

When does a chest pain indicate clinical emergency?

Dr. Amar Singhal says, ’A chest pain could be due to some minor health condition or the symptom of a serious illness such as a heart attack. In any case, it is wise to visit a doctor and get checked immediately.’ 

Chest pain indicates a clinical emergency (requires you to go to a hospital immediately and see a doctor), if:

• The pain is described as crushing, squeezing, heaviness or tightness.


• The pain is accompanied by various symptoms such as nausea, sweating, weakness, shortage of breath, dizziness or fainting.


• The pain radiates to the jaws, arms or shoulders.


• Severe pain that you haven’t experienced before.


• The pain gets worse over the first 15-20 minutes.

While in some cases, a chest pain can signify a less serious health problem, if -

• The intensity of pain changes with change of body position.


• The pain is not severe, but comes intermittently.


• You have experienced similar pain before (which ruled out a cardiac disorder).


• If you still experience a chest pain and think its not that serious, consult a doctor to know if your symptoms indicate any other clinical condition.

Although, every time one experiences a chest pain doesn’t indicate a heart attack, but in most cases it is very important to know its exact clinical cause to rule out any severe health problem. Also, knowing about the first-aid practices to follow when a person experiences a chest pain can come in handy. Here is a step-by-step guide on what you should do in case a person suffers from chest pain. 

Step #1: The first and foremost step a person should do (when an individual is suffering from chest pain) is to make him/her sit down and rest. Also, try to keep the situation calm.

Step #2: In case the person experiencing chest pain is wearing any tight clothes, try to make them loose. Avoid crowding the place and allow sufficient air to pass.

Step #3: If you know the person very well and are aware of his/her medications, help them have the drugs, if any. 

Step #4: Call for immediate medical help, if the pain does not subside within few minutes of resting or having medicines. 

Step #5: If you find the sufferer is unconscious or not being responsive, call for medical help immediately. In the mean time, start with the Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) technique, which is done when someone is not breathing properly or the heart has stopped beating.

Image Source: Getty Images

You may also like to read:

• Is over-exercising bad for the heart?


• Do your heart a favour, get some sleep!


• Suffering from heart disease? Here are foods you should avoid

For more articles on heart disease, visit our heart disease section. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter for all the latest updates! For daily free health tips, sign up for our newsletter. And for health-related queries, visit our Questions and Answers section.