First response or Emergency first-aid?

Are there any good books out there for someone who's not a professional, who just wants to be prepared if a situation comes up. So I can know what to do before the ambulance arrives or if help is going to be awhile. I've looked at some wilderness first-aid books but they don't describe how to know the difference in sypmtoms if someone was having a heart attack or a cardiac arrest. Those are just examples. Thanks for any help.

The best way would be to take a course in first aid. It's a hard subject to learn from a book without someone there to show you. The Red Cross Heartsaver course will teach you how to recognize a heart attack and how to do CPR.
If there is an emergency, and you have to call 911, the 911 dispatcher is trained to be able to give out medical instructions over the phone. It would really help to already know CPR, though.
There's something called a First Responder course, available through a lot of hospitals, fire departments, and vocational schools. It's a 40 hour course, and will teach you basic first aid. It's not at a professional level, but it will teach you what to do before the paramedics get there. It's a course commonly taught to people who may be first on scene to auto wrecks and such.
The difference between a heart attack and a cardiac arrest, well that one I can answer right here. A heart attack can possibly lead to a cardiac arrest. In a heart attack, the heart muscle is not getting enough oxygen, often due to a blockage in the blood supply leading to the heart. The person suffering from a heart attack will generally be having chest pain, oftentimes radiating to the left arm or jaw. They may feel a pressure on their chest "like an elephant is sitting on my chest". They may feel nauseous or vomit. They also might feel short of breath and be sweating. It's possible to have a heart attack and not feel any pain, especially in diabetics or women. A cardiac arrest is when the heart stops pumping. The person will not be conscious, not moving, and not breathing. If you try to feel for a pulse, there won't be one. This is the person that needs CPR. So, to sum it up, a person having a heart attack will still have a pulse (for now) but their heart is in big trouble. A person in cardiac arrest has no pulse, for their heart has stopped (sometimes from a heart attack that was not treated).
Hope this helps! I think it's awesome that you want to learn more about first aid!

You can contact your local volunteer fire/ambo company and they can refer you to community classes.....even your local colleges offer classes for first responders.

The Red Cross puts out a First Aid book that's good.I'm not sure if even it teaches the difference between cardiac arrest and a heart attack. For a better source of knowledge, do like my wife and take a First Responder course. She did, liked it, and has made a profession of it, teaching Paramedic now.

Contact The American Red Cross in your area. They give free lessons in First Aid and in CPR. If they charge, it is minimal. They also have phamplets and information for consumers.
It is very informative.
You can also contact the American Heart Association for similar free information.
Good luck and thank you for asking.

Take a heart save CPR course with the new guide lines they are required to provide you with a book when you take the class you could also take the class on line. but, you would still be required to test out with an instructor. Take the CPR class they also have the Heartsaver/First Aid course both are really good

the difference between a heart attck and a cardiac arrest is the one with the cardiac arrest is DEAD