Adapted from: The Reader's Digest Family Safety & First Aid Book

The heart is in the center of the chest, not on the left, as many believe.

The most common sign of a heart attack is discomfort in the center, "just under the neck-tie".  It is usually not a sharp pain but a sensation of pressure caused by the lack of oxygen in the heart muscle. It may radiate through the whole chest.  It may subside in a few minutes or a few hours, only to return hours, days or weeks later.  This is a warning signal - do not delay taking action.

Distress may extend from the chest into one or both arms or may appear in the arms alone.  It may be mistaken for arthritis or muscle strain.  To tell the difference, raise your arms above your head; pain due to arthritis will be aggravated by this maneuver, heart pain will not.

Discomfort may radiate into the neck and jaws.  It may be mistaken for toothache, arthritis or "stiff neck". To test, turn your head or bend your neck; heart pain will not be aggravated whereas most other neck pain will be.

Pain, usually pressure, fullness, squeezing or aching - may appear in the upper abdomen, and is often mistaken for indigestion.  Usually it overlaps the lower chest at the fork of the ribs.  Nausea and vomiting may occur.

Sometimes, back pain is the only sign of a heart attack.  Usually this is located between the shoulder blades and is felt after strenuous work with the arms, hands or stooping shoulders.

Heart pain often occurs in a combination of patterns.  The most common is chest and arm pain, chest, neck and jaws, or pain in all these areas.  Shortness of breath, nausea or vomiting, and heavy, cold sweating may occur with any of these combinations.

Heed  these Early Warning Signals and seek immediate care.  A little knowledge is not always a dangerous thing!