Save & ShareType: Urban Legend
Description:
This email hoax started circulating on the Internet in June 1999. It claims that heart attack victims can help themselves through a procedure known as “cough CPR”, wherein the victim coughs repeatedly and vigorously while taking deep breaths before each cough. It was intended to serve as a useful know-how to help possible sufferers of heart attacks. However, sources of this email had really little to no idea as to how potentially harmful this information could be, especially to those who are not knowledgeable of this procedure.
The email message also suggests that this “cough CPR” technique was recommended by Rochester General Hospital and The Mended Hearts support group. Rochester General Hospital has denied this, and The Mended Hearts, on the other hand, released a disclaimer which states, “The American Heart Association does not recommend that the public use this method in a situation where there is no medical supervision.” Although cough CPR is a medically approved procedure, this must only be done with professional supervision.
Trend Micro advises recipients of this email to treat the information contained with much caution. The said procedure is not recommended for non-medically skilled individuals.
Original Message:
HOW TO SURVIVE A HEART ATTACK ALONE
From F. Daniel Rochman MD
If everyone who gets this sends it to 10 people, you can bet that we'll save at least one life. Let's say it's 6:15 p.m. and you're driving home (alone of course), after an unusually hard day on the job. You're really tired, upset and frustrated. Suddenly 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 your 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. Since many people are alone when they suffer a heart attack, this article seemed to be 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, and a cough must be repeated about every 2 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 hospital.
Tell as many other people as possible about this, it could save their lives!
From Health Cares,
Rochester General Hospital via
Chapter 240s newsletter AND THE BEAT GOES ON ....
(reprint from The Mended Hearts, Inc. publication, Heart response)
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