How to detect a heart attack?

50,000 people die each year in France from cardiac arrest, or more than 130 per day.

What happens in the body during a heart attack ?

A heart attack, or myocardial infarction, occurs when one or more coronary arteries - the arteries covering the surface of the heart - become blocked, thus depriving a part of the myocardium from which cells necrosis. The myocardium is the muscle that makes the heart work.

A heart attack can lead to cardiac arrest, so cardiac massage should be done.

This video helps you recognize the signs of a heart attack so you can intervene more quickly to get the person to safety.

Typical chest pain is constricting and is in the middle of the chest, just

behind the breastbone.

What does it feel like to have a heart attack?

Unlike in men, it is often the case that heart attack does not cause pain in women, so you have to pay close attention to other signs.

The victim has a feeling of suffocation in the chest

She feels a diffuse pain in the throat, jaw or back of the neck, then that goes down to the right arm.

Nausea, vomiting, then shortness of breath: we must act!

One of these signs is enough. Put the person in a seated position and call for help.

To learn how to give cardiac massage following discomfort, you can watch our video How to give cardiac massage on an adult following discomfort ?

To learn how to recognize the signs of a stroke, you can watch our video What are the signs to recognize a stroke?