When you arrive at a hospital with a suspected heart attack, the clock starts ticking.
The national standard of care to treat heart attack patients is within 90 minutes of arriving at a hospital.
It’s called door-to-balloon time, which is the time from the moment a patient reaches the hospital to the moment surgeons insert a stent to re-open the blocked artery causing the heart attack.
“Every minute counts with a heart attack, and Endeavor Health hospitals take a team approach to treat patients as fast as possible,” said Ankit Shah, MD, a cardiologist with Endeavor Health. “Everyone has a role, including paramedics, nurses, technologists and doctors.”
Here’s how we do it.
Those saved minutes start adding up before a patient arrives at the hospital. When paramedics are on their way to the hospital with a patient, they send a cardiac alert to the hospital, which activates the heart attack team and prompts the Emergency Department (ED) and Cardiac Catheterization Lab (cath lab) to prepare for the patient’s arrival and treatment.
Typically, a patient goes to the ED for initial treatment and to confirm they’re having a heart attack. Next, they head to the cath lab, where an angiogram (X-ray of the heart’s blood vessels) can show which arteries are blocked.
Cardiologists will insert a catheter and open the area of blockage with a balloon. Sometimes even a clot extractor is used to remove the clot that is obstructing the artery. Then, a stent is inserted to keep the artery open and restore normal blood supply to the heart.
All of that usually takes less than 90 minutes, often much less time.
Know the symptoms — and take action
People don’t always recognize when they’re having a heart attack.
Sometimes the symptoms are unmistakable, and sometimes symptoms can be vague or so minimal they go unnoticed. People second-guess themselves and question whether it’s indigestion, wonder if it’s worth calling 911 and potentially creating a scene.
If you’re feeling symptoms that could be from a heart attack, you should always get checked out. Call 911 if you experience symptoms like:
- Chest discomfort, steady or intermittent, that feels like uncomfortable pressure, squeezing, fullness or pain
- Pain in one or both arms, back, neck, jaw or stomach
- A cold sweat
- Nausea
- Rapid or irregular heartbeat
- Feeling unusually tired
- Feeling lightheaded
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