Less than half of heart attack victims in a recent study arrived to the hospital via ambulance. When in doubt, call 911:
. . . as many as 5% of patients go into cardiac arrest en route to the hospital “” a very, very good time to be snug inside an ambulance rather than the family SUV. And a growing number of ambulances do electrocardiograms on the way to the hospital, speeding treatment once the patient arrives.
Related posts:
- Avandia and heart attacks
- Obesity and heart attacks
- Does Avandia cause heart attacks, and why the RECORD study is important
- Racial bias and heart attacks
- Ban smoking and watch the rate of heart attacks drop
- Heart attacks: "Time is muscle"
- Ten hours in the ER
KevinMD.com on Facebook
{ 2 comments }
I guess it is more prevalent in rural America, but I think men in general are less likely to call am ambulance because being carried out on a stretcher can be seen as a sign of weakness. Not me though. I’m as big of a baby as they come.
One of my most memorable patients while I was a resident was driving to the hospital with chest pain and was pulled over for speeding. He tried to explain to the police officer why he was speeding, suddenly had a V-fib arrest and the stunned officer had to start CPR and called 911. Fortunately, the patient survived to tell the tale – and warn others in the cardiac ward of his folly!
Comments on this entry are closed.