{"id":24470,"date":"2015-01-19T21:14:00","date_gmt":"2015-01-20T02:14:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/firstaidcanada.com\/what-you-should-know-about-shovelling-and-sudden-cardiac-arrest\/"},"modified":"2023-09-08T16:31:42","modified_gmt":"2023-09-08T20:31:42","slug":"what-you-should-know-about-shovelling-and-sudden-cardiac-arrest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.firstaidcanada.com\/fr\/what-you-should-know-about-shovelling-and-sudden-cardiac-arrest\/","title":{"rendered":"What You Should Know About Snow Shoveling and Sudden Cardiac Arrest"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Man<\/p>\n

There are an unsettling number of people who are rushed to the hospital with chest pain after shovelling their driveways, many of them have had a heart attack.<\/p>\n

Although a heart attack IS an excellent excuse to get out of clearing your driveway of snow…that is not why people are getting them! The bottom line comes down to risk of cardiovascular disease (such as high blood pressure or cholesterol), and not regularly exercising.<\/p>\n

If it’s been a while since you’ve exercised, it is best that when you do start back up, to take it slow<\/strong>. If someone who has not exercised in a long while wanted to get back into exercising by running a marathon, it’s just not realistic and down-right dangerous. You must work your body up to a point where it can HANDLE the 52km run. If your body isn’t ready, you will get hurt.<\/p>\n

The true is same for shovelling snow. Shovelling snow is very intense exercise.<\/strong> Just think, you go to the gym to lift WEIGHT. When you shovel, you are lifting weight. Pushing and lifting, and throwing….over and over again. And the heavier the snow, the harder it is. Shovelling your driveway after a heavy snow fall is like going to the gym and working out hard<\/em><\/strong> for an hour or so.<\/p>\n

This isn’t a recommendation to not shovel…on the contrary, this is a message to start exercising! The snow will fall this winter, and you will have to shovel it…you can decrease your risk of heart attack during your shovelling by exercising regularly.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

But what should you do when you are shovelling and you feel chest pain?<\/h2>\n

Recognize the Signs<\/strong>.<\/h4>\n

Not everyone experiences a heart attack the same, you may not feel the “typical” symptoms.<\/p>\n