Early Heart Attack Care EHAC

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Early Heart Attack Care(EHAC)

• Heart attacks have beginnings

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Course Outline

• Anatomy and physiology 101 Your Heart
• A Heart Attack in Progress
• Concepts of Early Heart Attack Care
• Recognition and Intervention
• Delay and Denial
• You The Early Heart Attack Care Giver

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Part 1

• Anatomy and Physiology 101
• Your Heart

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The Human Heart

• Location Middle of the chest
• Size That of a fist
• Purpose Pumps blood throughout the body
• Weight 7 12 ounces
• Capacity Pumps 1,800 gallons of blood
  beats over 100,000 times daily

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The Human Heart and Coronary Arteries
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The Human Heart Electric Pump
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Part 2

• A Heart Attack in Progress

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Heart Attack Facts

• 1 Killer of adults
• 4,100 Heart attacks every day
• 600,000 Heart attack deaths each year
• Hundreds of thousands survive but are left with a
  damaged heart

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Three Presentations of a Heart Attack

• Sudden, severe pain that stops you in your
  tracks
  
• Gradual increasing pain with damage occurring
  over a period of hours
  
• Very early presentation with mild symptoms over
  hours or days

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Coronary Artery Disease
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Ischemia Angina Pectoris
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Complete Obstruction AMI
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Part 3

• Concepts of Early Heart Attack Care (EHAC)

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Are All Heart Attacks Created Equal?
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Progress Heart Attack Treatment

• Thrombolytic Therapy (Clot Busters)
• Angioplasty
• Pre-hospital Cardiac Care
• Decrease in hospital time to treatment
• saved heart muscle improvement in
  quality of life

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Too Little Progress Heart Attack Recognition

• Most heart attack patients do not benefit from
  optimal medical advancesWhy?

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Delay

• In recognizing and responding to the early
  warning signs of a heart attack

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Why EHAC?

• Early Care Recognize Respond
• Often mild symptoms, usually normal activity
• Late Care Obvious Emergency Respond
• Incapacitating pain, diminished activity
• Too Late Care Critical Emergency Respond
• Unconscious, CPR, defibrillation, probable death
• 85 of the heart damage takes place within the
  first two hours

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Part 4

• Recognition and Intervention

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Early Symptoms of a Heart Attack

• Non-Specific Heart Attack Symptoms
• Weakness/Fatigue
• Clammy/Sweating
• Nausea/Indigestion
• Dizziness/Nervousness
• Shortness of Breath
• Neck/Back/Jaw Pain
• Feeling of Doom
• Elbow Pain

• Specific Heart Attack Symptoms
• Chest Discomfort
• Chest Pressure
• Chest Ache
• Chest Burning
• Chest Fullness

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Early Signs of Heart Attack

• Present in up to half of heart attacks
• Suddenly accelerate preceding the heart attack
• Usually appear within 24 hours before the acute
  attack but can begin two to three weeks before
  
• Duration varies from a few minutes to several
  hours
  
• Usually intermittent with a pain free period
  before the onset of acute occlusion

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Part 5

• Delay and Denial

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Why Do We Delay?

• Denial and Procrastination Our Hearts Enemy
• Its nothing really serious (Ill just rest a
  bit)
  
• Im too busy right now (I dont have time to be
  sick)
  
• I dont want to be a problem (If it turns out to
  be nothing, Ill be embarrassed by the fuss
  made)
  
• Paramedics Beware (First responders can easily be
  swayed by patient rationalizations and denials)
  
• Its probably heart burn or indigestion (Ill
  take something for it)
  
• Im strong (Just walk it off, grin and bear it)
• Im healthy (I have no serious medical problems
  I exercise)
  
• Ill just wait it out (Everything will be okay)

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Part 6

• You The Early Heart Attack Care Giver

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What To Ask and Look For

• Do you have any chest discomfort?
• Is it tightness, pressure, pain in the center of
  your chest?
  
• Is the discomfort also in your arms or jaw or
  neck or throat or back?
  
• Are you sick to your stomach?
• Is the person sweaty or clammy?
• What were you doing when the symptoms started?
• Do the symptoms go away with rest?
• Are you having any shortness of breath?

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Listen to Your Heart and Be A Winner!

• Be aware of pressure, not necessarily pain, in
  your chest
  
• Be aware if it increases with activity and
  subsides with rest
  
• Dont try to rationalize it away be honest with
  yourself and others
  
• Call 911 or have someone drive you to the nearest
  emergency room
  
• Dont go to your doctors office or wait for an
  appointment
  
• EHAC is knowing the subtle danger signs and
  acting on them before damage occurs

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Any questions?
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