17/06/2025
The more you know, the more you can help in an emergency!
♥ MYTH: A heart attack is when the heart stops beating 💔
♥ We’re not sure where this myth has come from. Probably TV. But, whilst the heart may stop beating as a result of a heart attack, this isn’t what a heart attack is. If the heart stops beating, it’s called ‘cardiac arrest’.
💔 A heart attack is caused if the surface of a cholesterol plaque in a coronary artery ruptures and the contents leak out. This leads to the formation of a blood clot, which completely blocks the coronary artery, resulting in the death of an area of the heart muscle.
♥ An area of dying heart muscle is unstable and can sometimes interrupt the heart’s electrical impulses, causing cardiac arrest, so it’s a good idea to have a defibrillator very nearby just in case.
💔 Luckily, the majority of people who have a heart attack are sat upright and talking to you and modern treatments have hugely improved survival rates.