Free tool · Scarlet Beast
When it might be a heart attack
For people in the United States who have had a heart attack; for the husband, wife, son, daughter or friend beside them; and for anyone who may one day be standing next to a person having one. The signs, and calling 911. When it doesn’t look the way you expect. What to do if the person collapses. What a heart attack is. What happens at the hospital. Recovery and cardiac rehabilitation. Fear, mood and the weeks after. Lowering the chance of another one. Work, driving and money. Finding help. And the words to say when you call or write. No quiz and no score. One thing at a time.
Right now
- Call 911 right away for any of these: chest pain or discomfort; feeling weak, light-headed, or faint, or a cold sweat; pain or discomfort in the jaw, neck, or back; pain or discomfort in one or both arms or shoulders; shortness of breath. These are the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s major symptoms of a heart attack. Unusual tiredness, nausea or vomiting can be signs too.
- Call even if you are not sure. Do not drive to the hospital or let someone else drive you: call for an ambulance.
- If the person collapses and does not respond: call 911, push hard and fast on the center of the chest, and send someone for an AED.
- Thinking about ending your life, or about hurting yourself? Call or text 988, at any hour.
More help
- The signs of a stroke? When it might be a stroke.
- Might it be panic? When panic hits. If you are not sure, call 911.
- Low, or afraid all the time? When the heaviness won’t lift and When the worry won’t switch off.
- Looking after someone? When you’re caring for someone and Help as you get older.
- Seeing a doctor soon? Get ready for your appointment and When you need a doctor and can’t pay.
- Changes at work? Ask for what helps you work.
- Can’t work? Applying for disability benefits.
- Someone died? When someone has died.
- All our free tools and Get help now.
This page and its wording were written with AI (Claude) for Scarlet Beast (our AI policy). The facts come from pages read on October 2, 2026: the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (About Heart Attack Symptoms, Risk, and Recovery; About Cardiac Arrest; How Cardiac Rehabilitation Can Help Heal Your Heart; Preventing Heart Disease; About Heart Disease and Mental Health; and About Women and Heart Disease); the U.S. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (its heart attack pages: What Is a Heart Attack?, Symptoms, Diagnosis, Causes and Risk Factors, Treatment, Recovery, and Heart Attacks in Women; and its cardiac arrest overview and treatment pages); the U.S. National Institute on Aging (What Is a Heart Attack?); MedlinePlus (Heart Attack; CPR; Cardiac Rehabilitation; and Angina); the American Heart Association (Warning Signs of a Heart Attack; Heart Attack Symptoms in Women; Heart Attack and Sudden Cardiac Arrest Differences; Life After a Heart Attack; Cardiac Rehab; and What is Cardiac Rehabilitation?); and the Job Accommodation Network (its Heart Condition page, and its contact page). The description of Crisis Text Line is from its own front page, read the same day. The American Heart Association and Crisis Text Line are private organisations describing themselves; we have no connection with either. We did not call or text any line, contact any provider, program or group, or search any directory. We did not read any clinical or resuscitation guideline, any CPR course material, any drug label, any law or regulation, any state’s driving rules, what any insurance pays for, or the research behind any statement; where the page touches one of these, it says so. The page has no questionnaire and gives no score, on purpose: a list is not an assessment. It names no medicine and gives no dose, quotes no named person, and gives no figures for how common heart attacks or cardiac arrests are or how many people survive them; the sources have them, with their context. Lines marked “Ours” are our own suggestions. English only for now. This page saves nothing: no account, no cookies, nothing you tick is stored or sent, and no analytics (privacy). Scarlet Beast is not a clinic or a government agency, and takes no money from anyone named here. Found a mistake? Email [email protected].