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CHANCES ARE
you’ve heard
this before: “I’m as serious as a heart
attack.” People say it when they
want you to pay close attention,
which is exactly what you need to
do if you have symptoms of a heart
attack. A heart attack happens
when blood flow to a section of
heart muscle is abruptly blocked. If
blood flow isn’t restored right away,
the affected muscle begins to die.
Acting quickly can prevent or limit
damage to the muscle—and save
your life.
Just ask Gwen Hail. At age 41, Hail
experienced chest pain and nausea
one evening after going to bed. She
and her husband both realized she
might be having a heart attack and
she was rushed by ambulance to
the emergency room at Regional
Medical Center (RMC) in Anniston.
If you see these in yourself or someone else, don’t wait.
Call 911
.
Chest pain, pressure, fullness or squeezing that lasts more
than a few minutes or comes and goes
Pain in the arms, shoulder, back, neck, jaw or stomach
Source: American Heart Association
Sudden lightheadedness, shortness of breath, nausea or cold sweat
Don’t play
the waiting
HEART HEALTH
Take heart attack symptoms
Heart attack: Know the warning signs
Quick intervention with coronary
angioplasty and stent placement
opened a 100 percent blockage
of her LAD artery, the “widow-maker”
artery, and proved lifesaving for Hail.
Without the emergency interven-
tion so close to home at RMC, Hail
knows her outcome could have been
much different.
“That’s why it’s critical to seek
immediate emergency care if you’re
experiencing symptoms of a heart
attack,” says Mohammed Jasser, MD,
an interventional cardiologist at RMC.
According to Dr. Jasser, three of
the most common signs of a heart
attack are:
●
●
Chest pain
●
●
Upper-body discomfort, e.g., pain
in your back, jaw, neck, shoulders
or stomach
●
●
Shortness of breath
Regional Medical Center
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