Awareness For Heart Attacks

Sponsor Provided Content
Surprisingly, up to 60-percent of people having a heart attack refuse to call 9-1-1 for immediate treatment. Dr. George Heyrich, Director of Cardiology and Structural Heart Disease at St. Mary Health says that decision can have deadly consequences. He says too often, people drive themselves to the emergency room or ask a friend or family member to take them. He says often it's because the patient is not certain he's having a heart attack or may be worried about the cost of the ambulance. Dr. Heyrich says that calling 9-1-1 allows EMS responders to begin treatment in the person's home or office and that could save a life. It also provides advance notice to alert the hospital's emergency department and cath lab physicians before the patient even arrives. As an accredited chest pain and heart attack center, St. Mary averages a door-to-balloon time in which a blocked artery is cleared of less than 60 minutes.