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Heart attack
What to look for
Angina
- Pain radiating up the neck and down the left arm
- Pain is often provoked by exercise or anxiety
- Shortness of breath
- Pale, cold and clammy skin
- Casualty feels weak and faint
- Signs of shock
- Pain is often eased by the casualty's medication.
Heart failure
- Short, noisy and gurgling breathing (talking is difficult)
- Sometimes chest pain
- Rapid and weak pulse
- Swollen neck, ankles and lower legs
- Pale, cold and clammy skin
- Blue lips and extremities
- Possibly frothy and bloodstained sputum
Heart attack
- Sudden crushing, stabbing or aching pain which spreads from the chest to the arms, neck and jaw
- Shortness of breath
- Nausea and/or vomiting
- Anxiety, confusion and dizziness
- Pale, cold and clammy skin, with profuse sweating
- Rapid, weak or irregular pulse
- Unconsciousness
- Heart may stop (cardiac arrest)
What to do
- Make the casualty comfortable and assist them to administer their own medication, if available.
- Seek medical assistance.
- Treat to minimise shock.
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