If you’re having a heart attack, you need to get to the hospital fast. You also need an aspirin to keep the platelets in your blood from clotting.

First, call 9-1-1. Then, reach for the aspirin bottle. Studies show that chewing one standard 325-mg dose of aspirin is the quickest way to get the drug into your bloodstream. Make sure to use a full-size tablet (not baby aspirin or an enteric-coated tablet).