6 Ways to Avoid Dying of a Surprise Heart Attack
Posted June 18, 2008
Video: Heart Attacks
6. Learn CPR. Clearly, you can't perform it on yourself, but you can help someone around you who is experiencing cardiac arrest. "If people can make it until EMS arrives, then their chances of survival are wonderful," says Judith Hochman, clinical chief of cardiology at New York University, who says she's seen three recent cases of patients saved by CPR. The American Heart Association says it improves survival two to threefold and recently urged laypeople to learn how to do it. And it needn't be complicated: Chest compressions alone can help heart attack victims. Meantime, if you're in a public space like a gym or casino when someone has an attack, look for an automated external defibrillator, Hochman advises.
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