Leigh,

As others have pointed out this is incorrect advice. I am not sure what signs and symptoms you are talking about but heart attacks and strokes very rarely mimic each other. You were right about getting a patient to calm down and call 911, but your advice strays from the accurate from there.

So what are the (short list) signs and symptoms of a Heart Attack (AMI: Acute myocardial infarction) and Stroke (CVA: Cerebrovascular Accident)?

AMI

• Pain in chest, back (between should blades)may be described as a heaviness or squeezing but absence of these descriptive phrase should not be used as a "rule-out".
• Shortness of breath
• Sweating
• "Indigestion" or Nausea

CVA

• Alterered Level of Consciousness
• Impaired motor function (may be one sided)
• Difficulty speaking or loss of speech
• Headache (often described as the worse ever experienced by the patient, which can be a major indicator that it is a Hemorrhagic vs. Ischemic CVA)

These are both short lists, but get the point across.

Aspirin is considered one of the second-line medications in an patient experience "Pain of a probably cardiac origin", with Oxygen being the first-line medication and Nitroglycerin and Morphine following the administration of Aspirin. Note the vagueness of the term "Pain of a probably cardiac origin". It is specifically vague because we are treating a SYMPTOM prior to the diagnosis, and it is the treatment of choice for this symptom as recommended by the American Heart Association (specifically 162 to 324mg or 2-4 baby aspirin chewed). I am not even going to look at a ECG (and either are most other ACLS providers including MD) to help determine if I should administer Aspirin; your having Chest Pain or similar pain... your not allergic to Aspirin... your are able to chew and swallow on your own... you are getting the Aspirin.

Aspirin alone won't stop a heart attack, but repeated research has shown that early administration of Aspirin after the onset of sign and symptoms of a heart attack can greatly improve the eventual outcome. Calling 911 as soon as possible should be your primary priority.