Surviving a Heart Attack - The First 24 Hours
Friday March 28, 2008
The first few hours after the onset of a heart attack are critical to both short-term and long-term outcomes. To survive a heart attack with minimal permanent cardiac damage, two things need to happen. First, the victim (or the victim's loved one) needs to recognize that a serious problem might be happening, and get themselves to medical care immediately. Second, once they arrive in a medical institution, the health care professionals need to recognize that a heart attack is underway, and act immediately to reverse the damage. This latter step, unfortunately, all too often requires further button-pushing by a savvy patient or loved one.
You can read what you need to know to survive that critical first 24 hours here.
Comments
My husband comes from a family where heart disease “runs in the family.” He suffered his first heart attack several years ago when we weren’t even together.
He was married to his 1st wife and one evening, he started to feel very clammy, sweaty, dizzy and his chest felt
tight – and it hurt a lot, so he told me. He remembers falling to the floor, clutching his heart and he was begging his ex-wife to call 911….
Apparently, she didn’t do too well
during a crisis, so she called her Mom first!! Wow. Your husband is having a heart attack, and what do you do? You call your freaking mother of all
people! lol.. Seriously, she finally
phoned 911 and medical intervention was on their way.. My hubby had to stay in
the hospital for a couple of days, but the doctors came to a conclusion that Steve had a very mild heart “incident.”
I don’t know why they called it an
“incident,” and not a heart attack??? Well anyway they put him on blood pressure medicine, as his blood pressure
was so very high when he first arrived in the ER. Ever since he has been on his
blood pressure meds, he has been ok. What I am worried about, at this point, is the fact that he’s about 70 pounds overweight he’s a light smoker and his intake of junk food is pretty high. I try to watch everything that he eats, but I can’t watch him all day long! Finally, I thought the article about the first 24 hours following a heart attack are the most crucial. Very good info to know!