What should someone do if he or she has chest pain?

Medical attention: If someone is having chest pains they should immediately seek medical attention, especially if the cause is unknown. While there are many causes of chest pain, and many if not most are not fatal (like gerd) a potential heart attack is a potentially life threatening event. In the case of a heart attack, time is muscle and survival odds improve the sooner you reach medical care.

CP: Severe chest pain (in general) lasting more than 30 min needs immediate medical attention. It becomes even more important if you have cardiac risk factors like, family history, hypertension, diabetes, high cholesterol, smoking. In othe words go to er or to your doctor for evaluation.