Heart attack -- call 911

Having a heart attack? Forget about driving to the ER and call 911, doctors say

Provided by: The Canadian Press
Written by: Sheryl Ubelacker, Health Reporter, THE CANADIAN PRESSOct. 26, 2008

TORONTO - Doctors have some simple advice for anyone with symptoms of a heart attack who needs to get to the hospital emergency room: leave the car in the garage and call 911.
Each year, thousands of Canadians experience the crushing chest pain and other tell-tale signs of a heart attack but choose to drive or be driven to their nearest ER instead of calling an ambulance.

But doctors say that decision could be deadly.

"When it comes to heart attacks, every second counts," says Dr. Madhu Natarajan, a cardiologist at the Hamilton Health Sciences Centre. "The faster you get to the hospital, the faster you get treatment."

Natarajan presented a study to the Canadian Cardiovascular Congress in Toronto on Sunday that found 40 per cent of people who came to the ER with heart attack symptoms had made their own way there.

Of the almost 500 patients studied, those who drove themselves or had a family member or friend take them were more likely to be younger, male, and with no history of heart disease.
"In general, people who are in the age range of 40 to 60 are more likely to drive themselves or find somebody to drive them to the hospital," Natarajan said in an interview. "And also you see a lot of males between 50 and 70 who are married, their spouses drive them rather than them calling the ambulance."

He said people who come to hospital under their own steam can run into numerous delays - including traffic jams, difficulty finding the ER, lineups once they arrive and the time it takes to be assessed by a triage nurse.

"We did see that people who came in by self (transport), their time to treatment was much longer," he said of the study.

And when it comes to a heart attack, there's an old saying that "time is muscle," meaning that heart cells can be irreparably damaged the longer they are starved of oxygen-rich blood.
Calling 911 means quicker treatment because paramedics are trained to recognize heart attack symptoms, can begin basic treatment and call ahead, "so the emergency room is prepared and they drive you directly and you're there," Natarajan said.

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