Call 911. When they send an ambulance, take the ambulance. Heart attack is tough, especially the first time someone has one: - The pain is usually dull and ca

Call 911. When they send an ambulance, take the ambulance. Heart attack is tough, especially the first time someone has one: - The pain is usually dull and can even be subtle - The pain usually is better with rest and worse with exertion, so you can convince yourself that it was some minor thing that is passing - The pain is usually not so bad that you'd think you'd have a problem driving, taking the subway, etc. But, heart attack doesn't kill you via pain. It kills you via arrhythmia, which happens because that ischemic heart tissue is electrically active. If you have a cardiac arrest from your heart attack and you're in an ambulance, they're going to defibrillate you. If you have a cardiac arrest from your heart attack and you're driving yourself to the hospital, you're going to crash your car and it's unlikely that anyone will figure out what happened in time to defibrillate you. Now, people who have established angina with known coronary anatomy will get more specific advice from their doctors. But in general, if someone without known disease develops symptoms that sound like a heart attack, they need to be evaluated.