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How
to Stop a Heart Attack by Yourself
Can
Coughing Save Your Life?
Or
Is This Just Another Dangerous Urban Legend?
There is an email being forwarded with very misleading medical
information:
This one is serious...
Let's say it's 4:17 p.m. and you're driving home, (alone of course)
after an unusually hard day on the job. Not only was the work load
extraordinarily heavy, you also had a disagreement with your boss, and
no matter how hard you tried he just wouldn't see your side of the
situation. You're really upset and the more you think about it the more
up tight you become.
All of a sudden you start experiencing severe pain in your chest that
starts to radiate out into your arm and up into your jaw. You are only
about five miles from the hospital nearest you home, unfortunately you
don't know if you'll be able to make it that far.
What can you do? You've been trained in CPR but the guy that taught
the course neglected to tell you how to perform it on yourself.
How to Survive a Heart Attack When Alone
Since many people are alone when they suffer a heart attack, this
article seemed in order.) Without help the person whose heart stops
beating properly and who begins to feel Faint, has only about 10 seconds
left before losing consciousness. However, these victims can help
themselves by coughing repeatedly and very vigorously. A deep breath
should be taken before each cough, and the cough must be deep and
prolonged, as when producing sputum from deep inside the chest. A breath
and a cough must be repeated about every two seconds without let up
until help arrives, or until the heart is felt to be beating normally
again. Deep breaths get oxygen into the lungs and coughing movements
squeeze the heart and keep the blood circulating.
The squeezing pressure on the heart also helps it regain normal
rhythm. In this way, heart attack victims can get to a phone and,
between breaths, call for help.
Tell as many other people as possible about this, it could save their
lives!
from Health Cares, Rochester General Hospital via Chapter 240's
newsletter And The Beat Goes On... (reprint from The Mended
Hearts, Inc. publication, Heart Response)
This message is very dangerous. It gives the impression that the
technique was endorsed by Rochester General Hospital and Mended Hearts, a
heart attack victims' support group.
Although the text was originally published in a Mended Hearts
newsletter, the organization has since retracted it. See their
retraction page. It says, in part:
"How to Survive a Heart Attack When Alone" was initially
published in a local chapter newsletter, without first verifying a
medical source. The American Heart Association does not endorse the
coughing procedure, and does not teach this as part of the core
curriculum in any course. This procedure has been used in a medical
setting (not related to heart attacks) with physicians available to
diagnose the specific problem, and to instruct the patient how to cough.
Therefore, it is not a recommended procedure for the general public. We
encourage the public to call 911 in the event of an emergency.
Rochester General had no part in the creation or dissemination of the
message. See their warning
page. It says, in part:
The source of information for this article was attributed to
ViaHealth Rochester General Hospital. [snip]
We can find no record that an article even resembling this was
produced by Rochester General Hospital within the last 20 years.
Furthermore, the medical information listed in the article can not be
verified by current medical literature and is in no way condoned by this
hospital’s medical staff. Also, both The Mended Hearts, Inc., a
support organization for heart patients, and the American Heart
Association have said that this information should not be forwarded or
used by anyone.
It appears that "cough CPR" may be a real procedure
occasionally used in emergency situations under professional supervision.
But it is not taught in standard CPR courses, nor is it typically
recommended as a "life-saving" measure for people who experience
a heart attack when alone. Also, in certain instances where a patient has
abnormal heart rhythms, coughing can help restore them to normal. But most
heart attacks are not of this type.
In this case, a basic core truth was apparently misunderstood and
misrepresented.
A chapter of Mended Hearts published it without proper research. It was
then reprinted by other chapters and eventually found its way into email
form.
Darla Bonham, the organization's executive director, has since issued a
statement which reads, in part
I've received email from people all across the country wanting to
know if it is a valid medically approved procedure. I contacted a
scientist on staff with the American Heart Association Emergency Cardiac
Care division, and he was able to track a possible source of the
information. The information comes from a professional textbook on
emergency cardiac care. This procedure is also known as "cough
CPR" and is used in emergency situations by professional staff.
The American Heart Association does not recommend that the public
use this method in a situation where there is no medical supervision.
Of course, part of the problem has been that everyone receiving the
email has forwarded it on.
I you were one of those, you might take a moment to forward the URL of
this page to help everyone obtain the correct information
 Mended
Hearts Statement on Heart Attack Article (www.mendedhearts.org/heartattack_article.html)
Philadelphia
Daily News (23.Mar.2000),
"Experts
rip 'coughing' advice for heart attack victims"
(www.phillynews.com/daily_news/2000/Mar/23/local/HART23.htm)
ViaHealth
(Rochester General Hospital) Important Notice Regarding the article
"How to Survive a Heart Attack When Alone."
(www.viahealth.org/via_news/news1999/99_august_news/heartattack.htm)
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