# Personal Heart Monitor

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/personal-heart-monitor/677044>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [December 23, 2013, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/personal-heart-monitor/677044 "2013-12-23T22:08:56Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![ducati](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/cc9497/32.png) [@ducati](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ducati)\
**Post date:** [December 23, 2013, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/personal-heart-monitor/677044/1 "2013-12-23T22:08:56Z")

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Every time I get heartburn, or not feeling well, I think of my mother. She went to bed thinking her chest pains were heartburn, and died in her sleep of a heart attack.  
Well, I suppose she woke up, but there was nothing she could do apparently.

Does there exist a consumer-level heart monitor that could alert the user or a monitoring station when the heart starts misbehaving or even stops? I understand the user may not benefit from knowing their heart has stopped, but perhaps a caregiver, passerby, or even a smartphone app that calls 911.

I’d like to go watch the news, but want to know I’ll wake up for Jeopardy.