# Dog olfactory data/Reclining during heart attack **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 20, 2011, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-olfactory-data-reclining-during-heart-attack/593427 "2011-08-20T13:24:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Lukeinva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lukeinva/32/17872_2.png) [@Lukeinva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lukeinva)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2011, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-olfactory-data-reclining-during-heart-attack/593427/21 "2011-08-24T19:59:52Z")
At walk time my dog would go totally ape shit. Running in circles yipping and yapping jumping and crouching, could barely sit still so I could put on her leash. She knew it was sniffing time, best part of her day. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2011, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-olfactory-data-reclining-during-heart-attack/593427/22 "2011-08-24T20:53:16Z")
> [@constanze](#): > > Only I don’t see how it helps the economy anywhere: > > . . . > > 1. If you want to save time for the Dopers reading (instead of working ;)), combining two subjects means that time is wasted if somebody is only interested in one subject. So making two seperate threads would be better. > > . . . Thus adding a drop of inefficiency into the bucket which eventually adds up to the need for another employee ? ? ? OK, yeah, I got nothin’, ---
**Author:** ![Yookeroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yookeroo/32/323_2.png) [@Yookeroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yookeroo)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2011, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-olfactory-data-reclining-during-heart-attack/593427/23 "2011-08-25T02:09:46Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > Nothing personal, but I wish people would stop doing this. I shouldn’t have to open a thread and read the OP, just to know what it’s about. This. Don’t combine two totally unrelated questions in one post. In General Questions. That’s kinda rude. ---
**Author:** ![trupa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/aeb1de/32.png) [@trupa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/trupa)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2011, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-olfactory-data-reclining-during-heart-attack/593427/24 "2011-08-29T04:47:48Z")
Regarding the not lying down for heart attacks, it can be important if the heart attack in question causes massive fluid in the lungs (pulmonary eodema) due to congestive heart failure. Staying upright can preserve some lung volume that is not “flooded”. But this is not a factor in all cases. Unfortunately, many medical dopers will not see this question because they may have no interest in dog sniffing behaviours… Another reason to use another thread… ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Panda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ee7513/32.png) [@Darth\_Panda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Panda)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2011, 8:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-olfactory-data-reclining-during-heart-attack/593427/25 "2011-09-02T08:21:43Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > Concur, from experience, not as EMT. You just carry a lot of fat people around? ---
**Author:** ![syncope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a698b9/32.png) [@syncope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/syncope)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2011, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-olfactory-data-reclining-during-heart-attack/593427/26 "2011-09-02T13:49:32Z")
If you think you’re having a heart attack, you should stay as still as possible. Any exertion will put strain on your heart. That being said, if possible, you should make sure the door is unlocked so the EMTs won’t have to waste time breaking down the door. If you have aspirin handy, you should get one and chew it. If the aspirin is upstairs and you are downstairs, you shouldn’t try to get it; the EMTs will give you aspirin. Like trupa said, lying down may cause problems if you’re having a massive MI (myocardial infarction) because fluid will back up in your lungs and essentially drown you. You might also vomit. Nausea is a common symptom of a heart attack; the last thing you want to do is suck that into your lungs. You should assume a position that is most comfortable for you. It’s not necessary to sit bolt-upright. Certainly you shouldn’t be standing or moving around. Most importantly, don’t try to drive yourself to the ER. Don’t have anyone else drive you there (except the ambulance, of course) unless you live in some godforsaken hellhole in the middle of nowhere. The ambulance crew will be able to start treatment immediately before you even get to the hospital, and they could very well save your life. Time is crucial. Every single moment counts. I’ve seen too many people die/ persist in vegetative states because they ignored their symptoms. When in doubt, call 911. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2011, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-olfactory-data-reclining-during-heart-attack/593427/27 "2011-09-02T18:07:59Z")
For what it’s worth, I might have the link between the two questions. EMTs here have pointed out that a heart attack patient who has laid on the floor is more likely to have fluid accumulate in the lungs. My vet says one of the benefits of walking dogs is that all that sniffing they do is aerobic, that is, the dogs breathe more deeply than they would at home. A few blocks of sniffing will tend to fend off fluid accumulation in the lungs. ---
**Author:** ![WILDJC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/cdc98d/32.png) [@WILDJC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WILDJC)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2011, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-olfactory-data-reclining-during-heart-attack/593427/28 "2011-09-02T18:16:23Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > Doing my part for our nation’s stressed economy, I’m practicing economy by combining my two unrelated questions into one thread. (If someone can find a relationship between these two topics, I will put a special sticker on your homework.) > > 1. When I take my dogs walking, of course, they smell everything, and occasionally will be RIVETED by some little (to me) nondescript clump of grass and spend many long seconds with their noses buried in the Goodness. > > What is the nature/content of the DATA that they are acquiring at those times? Yeah, others dogs, to be sure… but \*what about \*those other dogs? My exBF always said it was what the other dogs had eaten and this was a survival mechanism to determine if there was a food supply in the area. But can you tell what other dogs have eaten from day-old pee left on a blade of grass? What \*does \*that old pee reveal? Or new pee, for that matter? > > 1. Also, this morning I got one of those zillion-times-forwarded messages from my Aunt C (usually I delete them without opening, \*especially \*when they say “do not delete-important-not a joke” in the subject line), but this had a piece of useful information and a factiod that I’d like the SDMB to verify (or not). > > The useful bit is that Bayer has a quick-dissolving aspirin for when think you’re having a heart attack. In fact, my exBF (same one as mentioned above) WAS having a heart attack in 2004 after mowing the lawn, and I gave him three aspirin to chew and they saved his life. But these quick-dissolving ones sound better. > > The thing I’m wondering about is that the email says “don’t lie down while you’re waiting for EMS.” Is this true? Should you not lie down? Another friend years ago had heart problems and one time had to call an ambulance, and when I got to his apartment (after he had been taken to the hospital) there was a dining room chair just inside the front door where he had SAT while waiting for EMS. That seemed odd to me at the time, but maybe it was really smart. Sniffing allows for the identification of whose in heat. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2011, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-olfactory-data-reclining-during-heart-attack/593427/29 "2011-09-02T21:13:27Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > … A sort of related ?fiction is that you shouldn’t allow people who have overdosed to fall unconscious (they supposedly should be forced to stay awake because then they won’t become comatose and die). I’d think that if you took a fatal dose of whatever, it wouldn’t matter whether you’re artificially kept awake a bit longer. > > Connecting the heart attack and dog pee questions, you shouldn’t lie down if you’re having chest pain and a dog is in the room, because then it’s more likely to snag your sandwich. Or eat you if you die without feeding him. The bit about not letting someone go unconscious actually makes a little sense: someone who is upright and talking is not likely to die of aspirating their own vomit. Obviously if they’ve taken enough of whatever to kill them outright, this wouldn’t help - but if the dosage is just enough to suppress reflexes / make them sleepy, I see the reasoning. Of course, ideally you’d be seeking MEDICAL ATTENTION while marching your buddy around the room, but if you’re with someone who’s just taken too much alcohol or indulged in too much other fun stuff, there is a fair chance your own judgement might be impaired also. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-olfactory-data-reclining-during-heart-attack/593427.md?page=1)