If you watched the first two episodes of the Sex and the City reboot And Just Like That… then you likely have thoughts and feelings on what went down—especially in the last couple minutes of the premiere. You might also have questions too. (And if you didn’t watch, know that spoilers abound in this post.)
So, could Carrie have done something to save Mr. Big? And what are you actually supposed to do if someone is having a heart attack in front of you? Let’s answer how this fictional scenario could have gone differently, as well as how to respond in a real-life situation where someone has had a heart attack.
A quick recap of the scene: Mr. Big (Chris Noth) gets off his Peloton after a vigorous cycling class and goes to turn on the shower, but drops his phone. When he bends over to pick it up he is visibly struck by pain, grabbing his left shoulder area, and keels over. Sometime after (it’s not clear how long), Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker) comes home to find her husband sitting on the bathroom floor, leaning against the wall and clutching his left arm while the shower is running. Mr. Big is conscious but out of it and unable to communicate, except for making eye contact. Once Carrie realizes what’s happened she runs over to him and gets down on the floor, where she holds his head and upper torso, crying his name and caressing his face. Seconds later, Mr. Big dies in Carrie’s arms.
READ RELATED: A Lower-Body Exercise Routine to Build Balance and Strength
The first thought many viewers had—Do something!—is correct here. A heart attack—which occurs when blood flow to the heart is blocked, starving the heart of oxygen—is a medical emergency. The sooner a person gets to an ER and receives proper medical care, the more likely they are to reduce heart damage and live.
To that end, if someone is having or has had a heart attack in front of you, you should call 911 ASAP, according to the U.S. National Library of Medicine. While we can assume Carrie called them eventually, it seemed to have been after Mr. Big died. (This is also the best first step if someone appears to be having some sort of cardiac emergency but you’re not sure if it’s a heart attack or something else, like cardiac arrest, per the American Heart Association.) There are multiple reasons to do this. First: A 911 dispatcher can send an ambulance for transport to the ER. Second, they can give potentially life-saving CPR instructions, along with other guidance.
If the person is unconscious and unresponsive, then the recommendation is to begin performing CPR by doing rapid chest compressions while you wait for help to arrive. Most experts recommend doing rapid, hands-only CPR (so, no mouth component) involving doing two chest compressions at least two inches deep every second, as SELF has explained. (You can do these pumps to the tune of the Bee Gee’s “Stayin’ Alive,” or if that pick feels a little too strangely on the nose for you, you can keep in mind one of these other songs that has the right tempo for hands-only CPR.) In the event that you don’t know exactly how to do the compressions, or you understandably panic and forget how to do them in the moment, a 911 dispatcher can give you step-by-step directions to follow.
Source: SELF
