What to do if someone has a heart attack?
Posted by admin on Sep 28, 2009
I am just wondering if someone, in particular, my mother ever had a heart attack about what to do. I’ve heard you give them aspirin (to thin blood?) but what if she had the heart attack because her blood was too thin? She is on coumadin and 1 baby aspirin due to a heart condition.
Also, I saw another answer and it said to give the person cayenne pepper to break up potential blood clots. What validity does this have? Maybe she should start incorporating some cayenne pepper or something to break up her blood clot she has now in her heart.
Genius, just call 911. Before you kill her.
wow, i hope she’ll be okay and that she’s under close observation from a good doctor and i would think if she is, he’s giving her the proper treatment. if she already takes aspirin for treatment i don’t know if an additional one would help at the actual time of a heart attack. have you ever given any consideration to taking CPR classes? it’d be good to know how to perform it if living with someone who is at risk. other than that, just being quick and calm in the event of an emergency seems like the best thing to do. i hope she gets well. soon.
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hi sweetheart..let me try to help you as much as i can..
i work as an anesthesia tech at a community hospital so i will tell you from my own personal experience what you should do..
aspirin is good to give during a small MI (heart attack) but when are you going to take the time, to pull out an aspirin when someones life is at risk?
your mother being on coumadin and a baby aspirin the way it is..her blood is automatically extremely thin. i didn’t diagnose her, but i am assuming she had problems with her blood clotting quite frequently.
going back to your question…what would you do? if you were somewhere and someone goes down experiencing a heart attack, you need to stay calm first off. yes, it may be hard but its the best thing for you in order for you not to make a mistake with someones life being pretty much in your hands. you need to sit the person up slightly if they are laying flat so it will make it easier for oxygen to get through their airways. call 911 as soon as possible or yell for help for someone to call for you. while waiting for assistance, you need to start CPR if trained to do so. my personal opinion, do not give them any sort of intake (aspirin, coumadin, etc.) WAIT for help to arrive for it might have been caused by a slight reaction from the medication.
hope that helps you a little bit…and as far as cayenne pepper, i am not really sure, sorry! i do know that it does break up blood clots, but i honestly don’t think it is a good idea for her to get put on that because of her already being on coumadin. her blood is already thin, and almost free of blood clots the way it is..thats the role coumadin plays in.
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Before I say anything, I have to warn you NOT to begin CPR.
CPR is only administered if a person’s heart has stopped beating (cardiac arrest)…the heart does not usually stop beating during a heart attack.
Your mother is already on anticoagulants so don’t give anything else to thin the blood.
You call for an ambulance immediately and stay at her side to calm /comfort her. Keep her still…if she has trouble breathing, gently elevate her upper body. Only if a secondary fibrillation or arrest of the heart occurs (check for pulses and breathing) would you begin CPR.
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RN
To add to what galloppal has written, after you have had your mother sit up a little bit, you can also put her feet up or put a pillow under her knees . This will help the blood come back to her heart after it has been pumped out to her body.
I wouldn’t be too concerned about your mother suffering a heart attack because her blood is too thin. Most heart attacks occur because a clot has either formed in the heart, or because a clot formed somewhere else in the body, dislodged, and became trapped in the heart when it was swept along with the blood that was travelling back to the heart.
Has your mother been prescribed oxygen or nitroglycerine? If not, it may be a good idea to talk to her doctor about getting a mask and an oxygen tank, for emergencies only, that she could use if she thinks she is having another heart attack. A nurse or even a respiratory therapist could show her and you how to put on the mask and start the oxygen, and this could save her life during a heart attack. If she has any diagnosis of angina, it may also be a good idea to have some nitroglycerine, either as a wafer she puts under her tongue, or as a spray that she sprays under her tongue. Suggest that she talk about these things with her doctor if she is really at high risk for another heart attack.
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Genius, just call 911. Before you kill her.
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