Time is Ticking

It’s 11pm Friday night. You are at home with your 33-year old
girlfriend of 10 years. She starts complaining of intense indigestion and heartburn, and mentions that the pizza she had earlier must not have agreed with her. You give her some antacids to settle her stomach and she walks to the bedroom to lie down.

Some time passes and you see her dart into the bathroom followed by sounds of vomiting. You rush in to see if you can help, but she asks to be left alone.

She returns to the bedroom a few minutes later and you follow, hoping to comfort her. You stroke her back as she tries to rest and you notice her body is in a cold sweat.

She asks to be left alone again, hoping to fall asleep as her symptoms subside- so you return to the living room. A short time later you see her sprint to the bathroom a 2^nd time, clutching her mouth and vomiting profusely. You decide to give her some privacy, like she asked.

A few minutes pass and you hear nothing from the bathroom. Silence.

Concerned, you call her name as you walk toward the bathroom. You push open the door and see the love of your life slumped against the wall beside the toilet… unresponsive… barely breathing.

What do you do? What is happening? Your heart and your mind are racing as you scream her name and search for signs of life. You know time is ticking and scramble for the phone to call 911.

The events above describe the last few hours of my sister Heidi’s

life and her boyfriend’s attempts to save her in her final moments. There was nothing he could do. Heidi had suffered a massive heart attack at the young age of 33.

Paramedics worked on Heidi for half an hour on the bathroom floor, shocking her chest over and over and over again. They continued life-saving efforts in the ambulance enroute to the hospital.

At the emergency room, doctors worked for nearly an hour to try to save Heidi, but nothing could be done. Her heart never responded.

So what would YOU do in this situation? Do you know how to respond? Do you know how to best help a person in showing symptoms of a heart attack?

((Click photos above to view a video memorial of Heidi's life))

According to the Mayo Clinic if you or someone else may be having a heart attack:

• Call 911- Don't tough out the symptoms of a heart attack for more than five minutes. If you don't have access to emergency medical services, have a neighbor or a friend drive you to the nearest hospital. Drive yourself only as a last resort, if there are absolutely no other options, and realize that it places you and others at risk when you drive under these circumstances.

• Chew or swallow an aspirin- Unless you're allergic to aspirin or have been told by your doctor never to take aspirin. But seek emergency help first, such as calling 911.

• Begin CPR if the person is unconscious- If you're with a person who might be having a heart attack and he or she is unconscious, tell the 911 dispatcher. You may be advised to begin cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). If you haven't received CPR training, doctors recommend you skip mouth-to-mouth rescue breathing and perform only chest compressions (about 100 per minute).

Watch this tutorial about Continuous Chest Compression CPR.
This six minute video might help you save a life!

TEST YOUR SKILLS: Click here for a quiz to test how much you know
about heart attack symptoms & treatment
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Click the link below for the first post of this three-part series:
Symptoms Save Lives
Learn to recognize heart attack symptoms & how they differ in women
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