Call 911 Sooner Rather than Later

Here’s an old, but still relevant post from 2006.

The symptoms of a heart attack are not always classical. While nearly everyone knows about the severe, crushing, central chest pain, maybe spreading down an arm, as many as 1 in 3 don’t know that discomfort in the neck, back, and jaw can also signal an MI. Only 40% of people would seek medical help with such signs right away, and only 14% would call 911 immediately. More seriously, only one third of actual heart attack victims dialed 911 as their first emergency action.

This information came from an online survey of 2,500 people who’d had a heart attack or who had a friend or relative who’d had one.

Two important points: 1. Symptoms of heart attack in women are very different from the classical chest pain see in men. 2. Calling 911 is more efficient that getting your spouse to drive you to the hospital.

There’s another time when you should act fast and call the ambulance – in case of a stroke or a mini-stroke (transient ischemic attack, or TCI).  For a full-blown stroke it’s essential to determine the cause (thrombosis or hemorrhage), and, if thrombosis, to start clot-busting therapy immediately.  For a TIA, the risk is that symptoms improve rapidly and may all be gone in an hour or so; but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be in the hands of a physician as soon as possible, as there’s a risk of a subsequent ‘event’ that should be forestalled.