Surviving a Heart Attack in Extreme Situations: How to Take Life-Saving Actions When Help Is Far Away

What is a heart attack?

A heart attack occurs when the heart muscle does not receive adequate blood due to a blood clot in the arteries supplying the heart muscle. As a result, the heart muscle does not receive enough oxygen, and a part of it gets damaged or dies. This damage or death of heart muscle due to lack of blood supply is called myocardial infarction or a heart attack.

Heart Attack

How common are heart attacks

Heart attack is the leading cause of death in the US. Each year, around 805,000 people in the United States suffer a heart attack, and in 2020, approximately 697000 people died due to a heart attack in the United States.

Is a heart attack a medical emergency?

A heart attack is a medical emergency that requires immediate medical help. It is recommended to call 911 or another emergency services number if one is suffering a heart attack or someone else is having it.
Typically, someone notices a person having warning signs of a heart attack. However, some extreme situations pose significant challenges in calling for medical help or accessing it quickly. These situations can be challenging to manage while having a heart attack. Below mentioned are some of these situations and strategies to tackle them.

What to do if you are having a heart attack if you are alone?

Calling emergency medical services

The first thing one should do is call 911 or another emergency medical services number. Calling for emergency medical help is the quickest way to get help. If you live in an area where the ambulance may have difficulty getting to, the emergency contact person at 911 should be able to guide you to a local emergency service.

Try calling someone who lives closeby

If you are suffering a heart attack, another person can be useful to call in getting medical help or support you while emergency personnel tries to get to you. If you have a friend, relative, or acquaintance you can contact while staying on the line with a medical emergency person, try doing that.

Do not try to drive or do cough CPR

Driving while having a heart attack is not advised. You can lose consciousness. It may result in a road traffic accident.

A common belief is that coughing while having a heart attack can help you survive it. Please note that there is no medical evidence for it, and trying to cough during a heart attack can exacerbate your situation by making it more difficult for the heart to pump blood.

Lie down and take deep breaths

If you are having a heart attack, you should lie down and prop up your legs. You can lie on the ground and put your legs on a chair or a couch to raise them. You can also use a pillow to keep your legs above your body. This position helps you breathe easier and makes oxygen supply to the blood easier.

You should avoid the temptation to breathe rapidly and allow yourself to take slow deep breaths to maintain an adequate supply of oxygen to your blood. Fresh air can provide your heart with the required oxygen to keep essential functions running.

Take an aspirin and avoid drinking or eating

Aspirin prevents clot formation in your blood vessels. Taking aspirin during a heart attack reduces damage to the heart muscle. Generally, it is recommended not to eat or drink anything if you have a heart attack.

If your physician has previously recommended nitroglycerin, you should take it during a heart attack. Make sure to take the recommended dose only.

What should you do if you suffer a heart attack in the wilderness?

If you are out in the wilderness away from medical help, your chances of survival depend on many factors. Generally, the survival of a person having a heart attack depends on how quickly he gets to emergency medical help. Treatment in the first-hour results in the survival of the person, generally.

Take a rest and try to figure things out.

Initially, you should rest to decrease the stress on your heart. While you are lying down, you can figure out what to do.

Call for help or walk

If you have a cell phone, and it has cellular coverage, try contacting emergency medical help. If it does not connect, try calling a family member or friend and inform them of your location.

If you don’t have a cell phone or cellular coverage and are alone, you may not have any option other than walking to a nearby center or an area where you can call for help.

Try to walk again

If you can’t walk due to pain, you can try to wait it out until it gets better. Do remember the best chance of survival while having a heart attack is to get medical help in the first hour.

Once the pain subsides, try walking again. If the pain develops again, rest for a while and try again. You can wait as long as needed if the pain hinders you from walking.

Waiting it out

Please note the heart usually takes many weeks to heal, so waiting it out may take a long time if you survive the initial attack.

If you are waiting for the heart to heal and considering walking to the nearest center after you feel better, you may have to think about food and water in the meantime. It is recommended not to eat or drink while having a heart attack as it may put additional stress on the heart. However, once the heart attack subsides, you can drink or eat in small quantities.

What should you do if you suffer a heart attack in a remote rural location?

One can suffer a heart attack in a rural area where emergency services are not readily available. In these circumstances, it is critical to remain calm and do the following to access help.

Call 911 and family members

You should try calling 911. If it doesn’t work, you should contact your family members, and inform them about your situation. They should inform the authorities so the required actions can be taken to reach you. If you don’t have cellular service, ask someone to get you to an area where cellular service is available.

Trying to reach a rural health center

If you are in a remote rural area, it may not be possible to get to a specialized care unit in the first hour. Please note that reaching a rural health center may prove useful In such a situation. In rural health centers, many basic health facilities and drugs can be useful for a person having a heart attack. If you have someone with you, ask them to drive you to a nearby rural health center.

Lie down and take deep breaths

You should lie down on a flat surface and prop up your legs. You should also take slow deep breaths to help maintain the oxygen supply.

Should you walk?

If you are unable to contact someone, you can try walking or try to beat the heart attack by resting. Many people have survived such situations by resting. If you can walk without pain, you should try getting to a nearby road.

If you can’t walk due to pain, your best chance is to lie down to ease the stress of the heart. Do remember, resting can help you survive a heart attack. When you feel better, try walking again.