Reference

Emergency warning signs reference

This page does one thing: it restates warning signs that public health bodies publish for two time-critical emergencies. It is not a symptom checker. It does not ask you questions, add anything up or tell you that you are fine. Having none of these signs does not mean nothing is wrong. If you are worried about how you feel, contact a clinician, a nurse advice line or the emergency number.

Stroke: B.E. F.A.S.T.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) lists these stroke warning signs and teaches them with the acronym B.E. F.A.S.T.

• B, Balance: sudden loss of balance, dizziness, or trouble walking or with coordination.
• E, Eyes: sudden trouble seeing.
• F, Face: one side of the face droops. Sudden numbness or weakness in the face is a listed sign.
• A, Arms: one arm drifts downward. Sudden numbness or weakness in an arm or leg, especially on one side of the body, is a listed sign.
• S, Speech: speech is slurred or strange. Sudden confusion, trouble speaking or difficulty understanding speech is a listed sign.
• T, Time: if you see any of these signs, call the emergency number right away.

The CDC also lists a sudden severe headache with no known cause as a stroke warning sign. Its advice is not to drive to the hospital or let someone else drive you, but to call for an ambulance so treatment can start as soon as possible.

Heart attack

The CDC lists these signs of a heart attack.

• Chest pain or discomfort, in the center or left side of the chest, that lasts more than a few minutes.
• Feeling weak, light-headed or faint.
• Pain or discomfort in the jaw, neck, back, arms or shoulders.
• Shortness of breath.
• Other signs the CDC mentions include unusual tiredness, nausea or vomiting, which it says are more common in women.

The CDC's instruction is to call the emergency number if you notice symptoms of a heart attack, and it notes that the sooner you get to an emergency room, the sooner treatment can reduce damage to the heart muscle.

When the NHS says to call 999

The UK National Health Service says 999 is for life-threatening emergencies such as serious road traffic accidents, strokes and heart attacks. For situations where you are unsure whether it is an emergency, it points to the NHS 111 service for advice. Outside the UK, check which advice line your own health service runs and note its number now, while you are calm.

Other situations

This page covers only the two emergencies above because they are the ones whose published signs we checked. Other emergencies exist, including severe allergic reactions, serious bleeding, difficulty breathing, poisoning and injuries. For those, rely on your emergency number and the call-taker's instructions rather than a website. Our guides on fever and a lingering cough describe the general warning signs for those problems.

Plan ahead

• Save your local emergency number and your clinic's out-of-hours number in your phone and write them on your first aid kit lid.
• Make sure everyone in the home knows your address and how to say it clearly.
• Keep a list of your medicines and allergies where others can find it.
• Ask a recognized first aid organization about courses.

To prepare for a non-urgent visit instead, use the symptom diary and the questions checklist.

Where this comes from

The stroke and heart attack signs are restated from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention pages on stroke signs and symptoms and on heart attack. The 999 and 111 statements are from the National Health Service page on when to call 999. We read those pages when writing this one. Wording is condensed, guidance can be updated, and emergency numbers differ by country, so check your own health authority's current advice.