After a heart attack?

for example a person had a heart attack, how long can he still live? i mean for example he had a heart attack at 1 pm until what time can he live until you bring him to the hospital? just curious... will he not die at once after having a heart attack or will he still have an hour or so... etc

The chest pain is the initial stages of a heart attack and the amount of time left before death is not possible to say some could go on for a half day or more but you must at the first sign get to a doctor or hospital they dont care if you are wrong it is better to be wrong than sorry.

You should have time to get him to a hospital if you call an ambulance.

I think you have a fundamental misunderstanding of a heart attack. A heart attack is injury to a section of muscle in the heart. It depends on how much muscle is injured and how badly that muscle is injured for whtere or not a person dies from a heart attack. A person can have a mild attack, never go to the hospital and live to be 100. Then another guy can have a heart attack standing in a heart surgeons operating room and die right there. It just depends on which muscle gets damaged. In any case, most people suck at gambling, so go to the hospital if you suspect a heart problem of any kind. Don't wait!! Every minute more heart muscle is dying.

Some people do survive. I am not sure how long they would have if not. But there should be enough time if you call 911 as soon as possible.(ASAP)

'Heart attack' is a general term for a cardiac problem.... and the problems that occur in cardiac medicine vary.... A "heart attack" can mean that the individual suffered a blood clot in one of the main cardiac vessels, or the heart went into fibrillation, where it does not beat properly,(squirms rather like a can of worms, rather than beating properly to sustain circulation) or various problems with either blockages or arrhythmias. We hear about long distance runners that just drop dead.... clearly this is unlikely to be a clot, or blockage, but another problem. There are very young basketball players, age 16 or 22 just drop dead on the court, clearly, again, not a blockage problem. You may wish to read some things about heart problems -- google them Heart + blockage and Heart + electrical events or Heart + afibrilation. Check out webmd.com for some other discussions.

If a large amount of heart muscle dies, the ability of the heart to pump blood to the rest of the body is diminished, and this can result in heart failure. The body retains fluid, and organs, for example, the kidneys, begin to fail

Ventricular fibrillation

Injury to heart muscle also can lead to ventricular fibrillation. Ventricular fibrillation occurs when the normal, regular, electrical activation of heart muscle contraction is replaced by chaotic electrical activity that causes the heart to stop beating and pumping blood to the brain and other parts of the body. Permanent brain damage and death can occur unless the flow of blood to the brain is restored within five minutes.

Most of the deaths from heart attacks are caused by ventricular fibrillation of the heart that occurs before the victim of the heart attack can reach an emergency room. Those who reach the emergency room have an excellent prognosis; survival from a heart attack with modern treatment should exceed 90%. The 1% to 10% of heart attack victims who die later include those victims who suffer major damage to the heart muscle initially or who suffer additional damage at a later time.

Deaths from ventricular fibrillation can be avoided by cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) started within five minutes of the onset of ventricular fibrillation. CPR requires breathing for the victim and applying external compression to the chest to squeeze the heart and force it to pump blood. When paramedics arrive, medications and/or an electrical shock (cardioversion) can be administered to convert ventricular fibrillation back to a normal heart rhythm and allow the heart to pump blood normally. Therefore, prompt CPR and a rapid response by paramedics can improve the chances of survival from a heart attack. In addition, many public venues now have defibrillators that provide the electrical shock needed to restore a normal heart rhythm even before the paramedics arrive. This greatly improves the chances of survival.
As Medic 4525 said,it all depends on how much of heart muscle has been damaged and also on how fast the person is taken to the ER.

Sorry, too generic of a question- it all depends on the condition of his heart- there are so many mitigating factors to take into consideration-- his age, his blood pressure, the amount of blockages he has in his heart- which they wont know till he gets to the hospital and they evaluate him.

But your question makes me wonder that you know someone who had a heart attack and you are wondering how long it will take for him to die? or that you are planning to make someone have a heart attack.

there are different stages of a heart attack. but if the person cant breath anymore and the color of the skin is getting pale and having cold clammy perspiration, rush him to the nearest hospital.

This all depends on the type of heart attack and how much of the muscle is affected. Keep in mind that a heart attack is what we call blood getting blocked in the arteries due to a plaque (cholesterol) rupture. If the heart muscle piece is large enough or has anything to do with maintaining the rhythm of the heart one could die almost instantly. In fact 1/3 of all heart attacks still end in death.

It is not uncommon for an ischemic attack to last for hours or even days. Keep in mind the first symptoms of a heart attack are usually someone complaining of heartburn that won't go away and then they tell you that they're okay. It is called denial. If the clot does not resolve itself it might take several hours to days to die of a small to medium sized attack.

Hope that helps.

I gotta chime in here. I had an Acute Myocardial Infarction when I was 43. I just turned 48 last month. I smoked for 20 plus years. I also worked out religiously and ate like a dietitian would advise for my whole adult life. After you have a life changing incident like that you often become obsessed with info gathering. Oh, let me just say right now to all those who find it hard to quit smoking, when you wake up in crital care with a pain in your chest like a g.d. grenade just went off, you'll never pick up another cigarette again, or you're a dumb *** continuing to smoke who may not deserve a second chance.

I was at work when it happened. Luckily, I was rushed to a Category One Trauma hospital. I went into ventricular fibrillation in the E.R. They shocked me back. Then I went into vent. fibrillation again in the Cardiac Catherization Lab, shocked me back again. Then in Cardiac Critical Care Post Op it happened again one more time with the defibrillator. The cardiologist told me he never wanted to relive that day again. He also said that if I were a cat, I have 6 lives left! So, to answer your question- each case is different but when you're in ventricular fibrillation your heart is having an electrical malfunction and instead of a proper pumping rhythm, it's merely sitting there quivering erratically. When that happens the meter starts runnin' cause not only is your heart not getting oxygen but your brain has got 4-6 minutes before it's starts dying.

Hope that helps.