First aid for myocardial infarction

Acute myocardial infarction (heart attack) is one of the clinical forms of ischemicheart diseases. In case of a heart attack, the blood supply of the myocardium (the muscle layer of the heart responsible for its rhythmic contractions) is disturbed, as a result, its ischemic necrosis (necrosis) develops.

Symptoms of myocardial infarction

The main clinical symptom of acute myocardial infarction is intense pressing or constrictive pain behind the sternum (anginal pain). First it manifests itself with physical activity, but as the heart attack progresses, it does not pass at rest. Sometimes pain can give in the arm or shoulder blade (usually the left one - from the heart), under the mouse, in the stomach, throat, jaw. In some cases, the infarction is also accompanied by shortness of breath, coughing, arrhythmia.

There are also atypical forms of myocardial infarction, in such cases, the diagnosis of a heart attackis difficult. For example, in the asthmatic form, the infarct is more like an attack of bronchial asthma. And diabetics can have a painless form of an infarction, since one of the manifestations of diabetes is a sensitivity disorder.

First aid for myocardial infarction

Timely rendered first aid in case of a heart attack can save a person life: in this case every minute is precious. Noticing a person's symptoms of a heart attack, the first thing to do is call an ambulance. It is highly desirable to describe the symptoms on the phone and ask to send a specialized team - cardiac or resuscitative.

While doctors are on the road, Ensure the patient is at rest, put him in a horizontal position. Unbutton the victim collar, remove tight clothes, if weather permits - open the window or window leaf to ensure maximum access to fresh air.

Sometimes, with a heart attack, motor excitation is observed. In this case You can not allow the victim to get up and show some other activity. Be ready to keep it in the horizontal position with force.

Talk to the patient, try to calm him down - stress only aggravates his condition. The best way to calm is a personal example, even if inside you are nervous and panicking, do not show it at all.

To remove the pain, you need to give a pill nitroglycerin under the tongue or nitroglycerin in the spray. A single dose of nitroglycerin in the form of a tablet is 0.5 mg, in the form of a spray, 0.4 mg. If the attack does not pass within 5-10 minutes, you can take nitroglycerin repeatedly. However, if the infarct is accompanied by a sharp drop in blood pressure, nitroglycerin should not be given.

In the absence of nitroglycerin,for calming the nervous system - motherwort, valerian, valocordin, etc. - and also available painkillers from the home medicine chest. Still need to be sure give the patient the chance to chew a tablet of aspirin for liquefaction of blood.

If acute myocardial infarction is accompanied by cardiac arrest (there are even cases when sudden cardiac arrest is the only symptom of myocardial infarction), it is necessary to begin without delay cardiopulmonary resuscitation (indirect cardiac massage and artificial ventilation, i.e., artificial respiration). Indirect heart massage can not be done if the victim has a pulse! Therefore, it is important to distinguish between cardiac arrest and loss of consciousness.

About half of the deaths due to a heart attack are due to the fact that the victims were not promptly given first aid in case of a heart attack. Even if your immediate environment does notpeople suffering from heart problems, you need to know the rules of first aid in case of a heart attack - perhaps one day you will save a life for a casual passer-by.