In the United States, almost 700,000 individuals suffer from a heart attack every year, from which 120,000 people die. The leading cause of death among Americans is heart attacks and other forms of heart disease. A heart attack is considered the number one killer around the globe.

A heart attack causes almost half of the deaths in the first hour before the individual reaches the hospital. If you experience a heart attack, it is essential to act quickly for maximizing the chances of your survival. You should notify the emergency services in the first five minutes of a heart attack, and getting medical attention within the first hour, can have a lot of difference between life and death.

Read the below-mentioned strategies a heart attack.

PAY ATTENTION TO CHEST PAIN: discomfort in the chest or mild chest pain, instead of crushing or sudden illness, is among the common symptoms of a heart attack. You will feel pain such as heartburn/ indigestion, tightness or squeezing around the chest, or heavy weight on the chest. The chest pain spread to the other body parts involving the abdomen, teeth, jaw, back, shoulders, and neck.

BE AWARE OF OTHER SYMPTOMS: the pain in the chest is accompanied by several other symptoms that show you are experiencing a heart attack. However, some individuals feel no or little chest pain during a heart attack. If you ever experience the following symptoms – particularly chest pain, rush to seek medical attention.

REACT QUICKLY TO SYMPTOMS: in spite of striking the victim, most of heart attacks build up slowly, and multiple individuals do not know that they are experiencing a significant medical emergency. If you experience one or more symptoms of a heart attack, prefer taking medical support immediately.  Symptoms are different from person to person; they may seem in severe or mild forms and may appear again after some years. Some of the individuals face a heart attack after exhibiting no symptoms or mild symptoms at all.

SEEK MEDICAL ATTENTION IMMEDIATELY: Almost 90 percent of the individuals who experience a heart attack survive if they reach the hospital alive. Multiple heart attack fatalities take place because people fail in receiving urgent medical attention. You can also call emergency for getting help immediately.

TELL PEOPLE YOU MAY BE HAVING A HEART ATTACK: if you are in public or around family when you believe you may suffer from a heart attack, make people aware of it. If your condition gets worse, your life depends on the individual giving you CPR; you can get effective assistance when people know what is happening. 

DECREASE ACTIVITY: if you do not get medical attention quickly, try to be calm and do as little as possible. Wait for the emergency medical services to reach. Do not keep stress on your heart and it will cause more damage caused by the heart attack.

TAKE NITROGLYCERIN OR ASPIRIN: Multiple individuals can gain benefit after taking aspirin at the start of a heart attack. You must choose one tablet quickly and chew it slowly while waiting for the emergency personnel to reach. Aspirin makes the conditions worse, so you should ask your doctor when this is a suitable course of action. 

FOLLOW PROFESSIONAL MEDICAL ADVICE: when you are surviving a heart attack, it is significant to follow the advice of your doctor for recovery. There is a good chance you will be given medication for reducing blood clotting. You will take this medicine for the rest of your life.

BE AWARE OF CHANGES IN YOUR OUTLOOK AND EMOTIONS: it is common for individuals who have survived a heart attack for experiencing depression. Depression can result from self-doubt, embarrassment, guilt over previous lifestyle choices, feelings of inadequacy and uncertainty or fear about the future. Some of how the survivors can return to normal life after a heart attack involves professional psychological help, renewed social connection with co-workers, friends, and family, and a supervised physical recovery program.

KNOW THE RISKS OF SECOND HEART ATTACK: if you have a heart attack, you are at increased risk o a second heart attack. Almost one-third of the heart attacks in the United States occur to people who survived a previous attack each year. The factors will place you at high risk of a second heart attack are obesity, diabetes, high cholesterol, and smoking.

MAKE CHANGES IN LIFESTYLE: the unhealthy lifestyle places you at high risk of a second heart attack. Smoking, stress, blood pressure and blood sugar, high cholesterol, obesity, and inactivity increase the risk of a heart attack. You should prefer to avoid foods that constitute partially hydrogenated oils.  Lowering your cholesterol can be some through cholesterol medications, regular exercise, and diet. You should eat oily fish; it consists of omega-3 fatty acids to reduce cholesterol. Reduce alcohol consumption and avoid binge drinking. Drink a small amount of alcohol daily.

These are the simple strategies that can assist you in surviving a heart attack.