“I could not sit or lay down comfortably. I thought maybe I’d strained something,” says a Nottingham patient.

In the East Midlands, NHS cardiac specialists are telling the public during British Heart Foundation’s Heart Month why it is essential to recognise the signs and symptoms if you think you’re having a heart attack.

A heart attack is a sudden interruption to the blood supply to part of the heart muscle, starving it of oxygen-rich blood. It is not the same as a cardiac arrest, however if left untreated it can lead to a cardiac arrest so it is vital that you call 999 immediately.

Some signs of heart attack are:

• chest pain – a feeling of pressure, heaviness, tightness or squeezing across your chest
• pain in other parts of the body – as if the pain is spreading from your chest to your arms (usually the left arm, but it can affect both arms), jaw, neck, back and tummy
• feeling lightheaded or dizzy
• sweating
• shortness of breath
• feeling sick (nausea) or being sick (vomiting)
• an overwhelming feeling of anxiety (similar to a panic attack)
• coughing or wheezing

NHS heart experts in the Midlands report that one of the biggest problems they see in their day-to-day practice are patients who don’t know the symptoms of a heart attack, or confuse them with other ailments like indigestion. This may delay the patient’s admission to emergency care.

When a heart attack occurs, it is essential that the patient be seen by a medical professional and treated as soon as possible. Major damage can be minimised with emergency treatment, particularly within the first 6 hours of symptoms, but treatment can be extremely helpful, even after this period

Any delays in treatment of a heart attack may lead to cardiac arrest and even death. A cardiac arrest is the most extreme emergency and happens when the heart stops beating in a normal way, preventing blood from pumping around the body. For someone in cardiac arrest, they will die within minutes unless treated immediately with CPR.

Some signs of cardiac arrest are:

• they appear not to be breathing
• they’re not moving
• they don’t respond to any stimulation, such as being touched or spoken to

Dr Naeem Shaukat, Interventional Cardiologist, Kettering General Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and Clinical Lead for ACS/STEMI East Midlands Cardiac Network, said: “If you are suffering the symptoms of a heart attack, it is essential that you seek urgent medical attention by calling 999.

“When you suffer a heart attack, your survival chances reduce rapidly with time, and improve hugely once you have medically trained personnel with you, or you are in hospital. Emergency hospital treatment to restore the blood supply to your heart muscle will stop the damage to your heart and further improve your survival. The sooner you gain access to this treatment, the better your chances to make a full recovery – ‘Time is muscle’. This is why it is so important that you and your family know how to recognise the symptoms of a heart attack.

“If someone suffers the symptoms of a heart attack and becomes unresponsive, call for help immediately and also call 999. Then start CPR if trained to do so, or take advice from the 999 service. If possible ask someone to bring a community defibrillator if there is one nearby, and follow the clear and easy to follow enclosed instructions while waiting for the emergency services to arrive.”

Paul, 69, who experienced a heart attack in July 2022 and was admitted to Nottingham University Hospital NHS Trust, said: “I’d just finished a 5k run and was in the shower when it felt as if a heavy person was sitting on my chest.  I thought a good deep breath will get rid of it, but it didn’t. I wanted it to go away, but I could not sit or lay down comfortably.  I thought maybe I’d strained something.

“I then told my my wife, who had worked in a surgery, and she recognised the signs of a heart attack, so she rang 999 right away.  She gave me an aspirin to chew. An ambulance arrived in eight minutes, and I was taken to Nottingham City Hospital. They took me straight to the catheter lab.  I had a stent fitted straight away, and it was discovered that the other side of my heart needed attention too. I had a further procedure five days later to fit an additional two stents. I received absolutely top-class service from NHS over the six days I was in their care. My wife called 999 at 6pm that day, and by 8.15pm I had been operated on, and was on the Cardiac Ward. I will be forever grateful to everyone who looked after me that day – truly wonderful, and I didn’t even realise I was having a heart attack at the time!

“Having a heart attack proved to me that no one is immune to having one. I don’t drink, don’t smoke and was running 3-4 times per week. I always pictured a heart attack as someone grabbing their chest and falling on the floor. But it wasn’t that way for me, and I didn’t think I was at risk. If you have any changes to your heart health, I now know that you need to react and ring to get attended. Also, make sure you always have an emergency contact number of someone with you and the means to call them. I am so grateful to my wife and how calm she was when she reported my heart attack.”