Aspirin for a heart attack is not a "cure" but only a stop-gap measure until you can get to an ER or wait for an ambulance. And as to swallowing a pill, pills take time (valuable time) to dissolve and break down the binder that holds it together.

If I were in such a situation -- painful left arm, chest pain, etc. -- I'd head for my bedside where I keep powdered aspirin and take one with water immediately. Powdered aspirin acts immediately and is absorbed through the stomach lining quickly. It's soluble in water and there is no binder to break down as in a pill form.

By the way, the reason I keep powdered aspirin around is for infrequent headaches and frequent muscle aches from working out 5 days a week at the gym. Every morning, depending on my workout the previous day, a different part of my body aches... shoulders one day, legs the next... and a powdered aspirin along with my coffee first thing in the morning reduces the pain at least 50% maybe more.

Powdered aspirin usually comes in 800mg packets, but if you look for the BC Arthritis Strength powder, it's 1,000mg and more effective.