Chest Pain: Emergencies

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Emergencies

• Chest discomfort or pain is crushing or squeezing, feels like a heavy weight on the chest, or is occurring with any of the following symptoms:
  • Sweating
  • Shortness of breath
  • Nausea or vomiting
  • Pain that spreads from the chest to the back, neck, jaw, upper belly, or one or both shoulders or arms (see an illustration of chest pain )
  • Dizziness or feeling like you are going to faint (lightheadedness)
  • A fast, slow, or irregular heartbeat
• Shock
• Moderate to severe difficulty breathing or severe shortness of breath
• Severe fatigue with any other symptoms of a heart attack
• Angina that has been diagnosed by your doctor but has not gone away after using your home treatment plan

After calling 911 or other emergency services:

• If the person becomes unconscious, see Rescue Breathing and Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) in the topic Dealing With Emergencies.
• If the person is awake, alert, not vomiting, and not allergic to aspirin, have the person chew and swallow 1 adult aspirin (325 mg) or 4 low-dose aspirin (80 mg each) before emergency medical personnel such as paramedics arrive. Be sure to tell emergency personnel that aspirin has been taken.
• Remember it is important to have the person taken to the hospital by emergency personnel because his or her condition may get worse on the way.

NOTE: If a person collapses in a public place, call 911 and then ask if anyone knows CPR or if there is an automatic external defibrillator (AED) nearby.

Last updated:	April 27, 2007
Author:	Jan Nissl, RN, BS
Reviewed By:	William M. Green, MD - Emergency Medicine, H. Michael O'Connor, MD - Emergency Medicine
Editors:	Susan Van Houten, RN, BSN, MBA, Tracy Landauer