Key to Life: Surviving a Heart Attack

February is Heart Month – and not just for lovers – according to the Heart & Stroke Foundation, heart disease and stroke take one life every 7 minutes. It was because one of those lives turned out to be a loved one that brothers Brett and Andrew Beaulieu took action with Key to Life.

This initiative means your key chain – or rather what you carry on it – could save your life or another’s. After their father passed away due to a heart attack, the college bound brothers took heed of a recommendation based on studies that showed chewing Aspirin (ASA), which thins the blood, allowing more oxygen rich blood through clogged arteries, can buy time for someone experiencing the first signs of heart attack to get medical attention and improve survival rates by 25 per cent.

Keeping ASA close at hand seemed like a solution, so they created Key to Life, a key-chain pill holder made to carry tablets with you at all times. If you experience warning signs, the Heart and Stroke Foundation recommends calling 911 and, if chest pain occurs, chew one adult 325 mg tablet (or two 80 mg tablets) of ASA while you wait for emergency response. $3, www.keytolifegroup.com)