Determining Signs of Heart Attack

Coronary heart disease, including heart attack, is the reason for 1 out of 7 deaths in the United States. However, most of these deaths can be avoided if you just take action as soon as possible. Every year, almost 635,00 people within the United States alone get a newly emerging heart attack, while nearly 30,000 get a recurring attack. Over time, the progress of the disease worsens. Though other heart attacks are intense and side, most of such begin slowly with mild discomfort or pain. Below are the following signs that can help you determine whether a heart attack is occurring:

Shortness of breath

This may happen with or without discomfort in the center of your chest.

Discomfort in other parts of your upper body

If you feel any discomfort or pain in your stomach, jaw, neck, back, or in one or both arms, that’s also among the signs of an occurring heart attack.

Discomfort in your chest

Most of the time, heart attacks are associated with chest discomfort that lasts more than a couple of minutes. Sometimes, it goes away and then returns. This may feel uncomfortable, fullness, squeezing, pressure, or pain.

Other signs of a heart attack may include:

  • Lightheadedness
  • Nausea
  • Breaking out in a cold sweat

Similar to men, the most usual symptoms of heart attack for women include chest discomfort or pain. But, compared to men, women get more possibility of risk of having some of the typical symptoms of heart attack, especially jaw pain, back pain, vomiting, and shortness of breath.

What you must-do if you think you’re having a heart attack?

Even though you are unsure whether it is a heart attack, do not hesitate to contact 911 or your local EMS or emergency medical services like the ambulance or the fire department. The staff of EMS will start treating you as soon as they arrive, which would take 1 hour earlier compared to driving someone to the hospital. Patients having chest pains arriving by ambulance most commonly get faster treatment at hospitals as well.

What else can you do?

Before any emergency, it would be best if you research in advance about your local hospitals that cater to 24/hour emergency cardiac care. Moreover, make a list of emergency phone numbers close to your phone and with you always, in case of emergencies. These steps should be taken today or as soon as possible.

Why don’t people attend to this issue right away?

A lot of people who have a heart attack wait for 2 hours or more before seeking professional assistance. Others think that it’s embarrassing to get treated with a “false alarm”. While some are extremely afraid of getting a heart attack that they convince themselves that they don’t have it. Though these feelings are understandable, they are also extremely dangerous. When you or somebody you know displays indicators and warning signs of a heart attack. Make sure to contact 911 right away and ask for assistance from them.

Risks and Causes of Coronary Artery Disease

Coronary artery disease is recognized to start with injury or damage to the coronary artery’s layer, which occasionally happens as soon as childhood. The damage may be instigated by different factors such as sedentary lifestyle, insulin resistance or diabetes, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and smoking. Once an artery’s inner wall becomes damaged, plaques and some cellular waste products usually build up and accumulate at the injury’s site. This clump blocks the artery, which results in heart disease and heart attack. To know about coronary artery disease’s causes and risk factors keep on reading this article:


Unhealthy diet

If you consume excessive food that contains high amounts of sugar, salt, trans-fat, and saturated fats, you are only increasing your possibility of having coronary artery disease.

Extreme stress

If you become too stressed, it can actually cause your arteries to be damaged. Moreover, it can aggravate other coronary artery disease’s risk factors.

Physical inactivity

Having a stagnant lifestyle and insufficient exercise is linked with coronary artery disease and other risk factors it can give as well.

Obesity or overweight

Too much weight can usually cause other risk factors to aggravate.


Insulin resistance is linked with a boosted risk of coronary artery disease. In fact, coronary artery disease and type 2 diabetes share the same risk factors, like high blood pressure and obesity.

High cholesterol levels

High cholesterol levels within your blood can boost the danger of the development of atherosclerosis and plaque. High cholesterol can be due to a due to an increased level of the bad cholesterol, which is the LDL or low-density lipoprotein cholesterol. Moreover, if you have a low level of good cholesterol or high-density lipoprotein, it can also be one of the causes of atherosclerosis development.

High blood pressure

Your arteries can get thicken and harden once you have uncontrolled blood pressure. As a result, this will constrict the passage through which blood can flow.


Those individuals who smoke get a particularly boosted risk of obtaining heart disease. Moreover, inhaling secondhand smoke can boost the risk of a person developing coronary artery disease as well.

Family history

If your family has a history of heart disease, it means that you have a higher risk of acquiring this disease as well, particularly when a close relative had heart disease at a young age. Your risk is at peak once your sister or mother was diagnosed with heart disease before reaching the age of 65 or when your brother and father had it before the age of 65.


Generally, men are most at risk of having coronary artery disease. When it comes to women, this risk usually increases after their menopausal stage.


Once you get older, you get an increased risk of having narrowed and damaged arteries.

Coronary artery disease’s risk factors usually happen simultaneously and some may trigger other risks. If ever you think that you’re at high risk of having this disease, it would be best to consult to your doctor today.

Most Common Mistakes While Taking a BLS Training Examination

The American Heart Association (AHA) sets the standards and guidelines for BLS certifications. They identify what the prospective and aspiring doctors must know how to act based on the case scenario presented to them during emergencies to help them properly do their jobs. However, you don’t only need to be certified, AHA will also require to get BLS recertification every after 2 years. For a free BLS pretest, you can look for them online for free. In this article, we’ll be discussing the 3 things that people usually forget from their BLS training as they take the exam, which they should always master and keep in mind.

Forgetting to check your surroundings for safety purposes

When you’re in an emergency scenario, a lot of people tend to panic. If you aspire to be a physician one day, you are expected to deal with the situation like a pro. Meaning, you need to keep calm, and don’t forget to inspect for safety problems before you start assisting the patient.

Never begin to attend to the victim unless when it is safe. For instance, vehicle accidents can lead to harmful and threatening conditions, making it hazardous for you to assist the victim, Moreover, ensure that the people within the scene, who are panicking, aren’t making it too risky for you to tend to your patient.

Keep in mind that when you get hurt during the scene while attempting to tend to the victim, you are of no value. Hence, you must never forget this step.

Use teamwork if you can

Whatever task you perform while you’re at the scene, make sure to only focus on the job that you are doing. Meaning, when you are the person who calls EMS or 911, do not hang up the phone until assistance arrives. It’s your responsibility to always inform the operator on the other line in what is happening at the scene and with the victim.

If you’re tasked to perform CPR on a victim, give your all and your entire concentration to what you’re doing. As the rescuer, you must concentrate on nothing than providing the victim a great CPR.

If people are still at the scene and standing around it, let them know how they can help you before you start the CPR. Here are the things you can ask them to do:

  • Immediately contact 911
  • Grab a bag-mask
  • Take the AED defibrillator

If you tend to be all alone within the scene and no one can help you out, it would be best to contact 911 before you start performing the CPR. However, do not hang up on the phone. Instead. Put them on speakers so you can still communicate with the operator of 911 as you do your best in saving the life of the victim.

Ratio matter and compression depth

As you do CPR, never forget the right ratio you need to provide compressions every minute. It’s also imperative to have a correct compression depth If you truly want to save the victim’s life.

Advantages of Online ACLS

ACLS courses online exactly show how helpful online education is for the careers of healthcare experts. Traditionally, ACLS courses are done in the classroom similar to how they’ve been used to be done when they first emerged. In this traditional educational method, you cannot have flexibility since everything needs to be strategically booked and the exam and class need to be completed in person. Though it surely worked, it has greatly drained the resources and time of the students as well. Nowadays, fiving online ACLS certification programs— from the beginning until the end—has become so effective and popular that it’s now considered as the rule instead of the exception. If you’re considering to avail of your ACLS certification online, check out the main benefits you can enjoy:


Courses of online ACLS can greatly differ in price. However, learning courses in classrooms is nearly always more costly compared to just doing them online. It is not just the cost of the course itself, but the expense of the lost travel time, parking, and getting to and for your classes. It’s no doubt that face-to-face classes can’t beat with courses taken online. 


In classroom settings, a lot of learners are mostly concerned about their lack of flexibility. In fact, not all of us can learn at the same pace and in the same manner. Other people require more time to become totally prepared for their tests. However, that’s impossible to achieve in classroom settings. This is where online ACLS programs get in handy because it enables every learner to learn in the way that they prefer, at their own time. With this, they can take their time and wait for the right moment when they feel confident to take on the test. If you’re still hesitating, make sure to do some ACLS practice test available online to get a feel of the exam and be more prepared to take on the actual one. 


You can’t place a price on your free time. Actually, as healthcare experts, you basically don’t have the time that what normal people would call as free time. Attempting to go to a physical class and back to the hospital will only take the time you usually don’t need to give for the sake of attending the ACLS course. In this case, you can possibly end up shifting your whole schedule just to adjust to one class since it doesn’t have a flexible schedule. On the contrary, if you resort to an online ACLS course, you can insert your studies according to your schedule since it allows you to study at your own pace thanks to its flexible schedule. Meaning, you can do whenever and whatever you want and keep on stepping up your career, which is undoubtedly a lot more convenient than the traditional method. 

If you’re interested to add a set of knowledge and skills to your medical expert career, avail of an online ACLS course today. Make sure to only trust reliable sites that provide great learning materials and outcomes. 

Things to Consider in Choosing an ACLS Online Course

Courses for ACLS certification online provide the same conveniences and general program, however, the details are where you can know the deciding factors to see whether the course is perfect for you to take. Here are some of the factors you need to consider:

Limits on attempts and time

Guarantee that your chosen course doesn’t have a time limit and enables you to work at your own pace. Flexibility should be the main advantage you get while you take an online ACLS course. Hence, you must never compromise on this feature. Moreover, it would be a bonus if the course would provide multiple attempts for you to pass it.

Money-back guarantee

Most of the time, a money-back guarantee won’t come to mind. However, this can actually be helpful to you especially if there will be unexpected situations that will happen where you can’t benefit from the course anymore. In this case, you need to know your options on how you can recover your funds.

Review material included

Other ACLS courses online do not include study materials as a portion of the quoted price. Before you sign up in a course, be clear whether the review materials serve as an add-on or already included in what you pay for the course. Though the majority of sites would include such materials, it’s typical to encounter offers that consider the manual of AHA ACLS as an additional study guide.

Customer Support

Never forget the essence of customer support. You have to at least select a site that gives an email address that you can reach out to anytime you want. It would be great if they can provide you a phone number that you can contact during their normal business hours. Plus, a site gets added points if they have a live online customer support service.


Since the AHA doesn’t accredit any exclusive online ACLS course, you need to select a course that still follows the guidelines of AHA according to the standards from JCAHO or Joint Commission.


Even if all things are the same, it would be great to look for an ACLS course that’s accepted abroad and in the United States. But, the most vital thing to consider is if your employer accepts the course.


Though pricing should not be the only determining factor, it’s always essential. A certification course potentially ranges upwards of 275 dollars. On the other hand, recertification courses basically reach almost 175 dollars. The real variations in what you can have from courses between the price scale’s lower end to the higher end may be insignificant for others. The difference might wind down into something as minimal as the video inclusions as a portion of the course. For most people, less costly online courses are more than suitable and are commonly acceptable given that all things are the same.


Recommendations and testimonials should still be considered, however, don’t solely rely on them. If you’re searching online, you should search for sites that are independent third party for what tend to have unbiased and honest reviews.