When Heart Attack Strikes, Call 911

When blocked blood vessels lead to a heart attack, your heart is deprived of oxygen, causing damage to your heart muscle. We use the expression “time is tissue,” meaning that the longer your heart is without oxygen, the more damage is done to your heart muscle.

Because it’s essential to preserve as much muscle as possible, it’s imperative to call 911 if you suspect that someone is having a heart attack.

Quickly responding to a 911 call, paramedics can start immediate treatment on a person who exhibits the signs of a heart attack, administering emergency therapy like aspirin, oxygen, intravenous fluids and nitroglycerin. These emergency medical service providers can perform an EKG in the ambulance en route to the hospital.

If the results show that a person is having a major heart attack, they’ll alert the hospital so the board-certified emergency physician as well as a cardiologist will be prepared for an immediate intervention. When the patient arrives, life-saving measures can be taken.

By familiarizing yourself with the signs and symptoms of heart attack, you may be able to save a life, perhaps even your own. In men, one of the first signs of a heart attack is pain, pressure, heaviness or tightness in the chest. Men may experience a clenching of the chest with pain that typically radiates toward the left arm, but can also radiate to the right arm or jaw.

They may have shortness of breath, sweating and fatigue. While most of the time these symptoms occur suddenly, they can also happen slowly. Often, symptoms will occur following exertion such as shoveling snow, working out, or sometimes just the effort of jumping out of bed in the morning.

Women can have any of the same symptoms as men, but most frequently will experience a feeling of chest heaviness, a flutter in the chest, weakness, fatigue, shortness of breath, jaw pain, arm pain, or upper abdominal pain.

If you think someone is having a heart attack, the first thing you should do is call 911. Next, have them chew an aspirin, providing they are not allergic.
 
In addition to understanding the signs and symptoms of heart attack, it’s important that you be aware of your own personal risk factors. The various risk factors for heart attack are high blood pressure, elevated cholesterol, family history of heart disease, personal history of coronary artery disease, diabetes, and smoking.

While obesity itself is not a risk factor, lifestyle factors that contribute to obesity, such as lack of regular exercise, may increase the potential for cardiac disease.

Awareness of your risk factors enables you to take a proactive approach to avoiding heart attack. Treating high blood pressure or high cholesterol and stopping smoking are all behaviors over which we have control. It’s advisable to take an aspirin a day after first checking with your personal physician to have the best cardiac protection.

One of the biggest things we can do to prevent heart attack is exercising to increase our healthy heart muscle. First, see your family doctor to make sure an exercise regimen is safe for you. As a general rule, it’s recommended to do at least 150 minutes of aerobic activity such as jogging, walking on a treadmill, bicycling or swimming per week. Yoga and pilates can be instrumental in reducing stress, which is another risk factor for heart disease.

Anyone with a family history of heart disease should have regular, yearly check-ups with their doctor to monitor their heart status. Your yearly exam may include an EKG, which can be compared to the previous EKG’s for changes. Once past the age of 50, your annual check-up may also include a stress test.
Many heart attacks are preventable. By knowing your risk factors and taking the appropriate steps, you can significantly reduce the possibility of having a heart attack.

Vernell Johnson III, M.D. is Director of the Emergency Department at Franciscan St. James Health, which is a member of the Southland Health Alliance.