Suspect it’s a heart attack? Call 911
By Cheryl Clark
San Diego Union-Tribune
Copyright 2007 Union-Tribune Publishing Co.
SAN DIEGO — Just as the North Coast Cannons win their Little League game, their grandfatherly coach clutches his chest.
“I’m a little short of breath and my chest hurts,” Jim tells his wife. “Maybe you should drive me to the hospital.”
“No, no! I’m calling for help,” she replies, quickly dialing 911 on her cell phone.
“It’s my husband!” she cries. “He might be having a heart attack!”
The story is told in a video that’s part of a countywide public service campaign to be rolled out this month by Palomar Pomerado Health.
The campaign issues a seldom-heard warning: Don’t even think you will get faster care if you or a friend drives you to the hospital.
If that happens, the treatment you need so urgently may be delayed for an hour or more, and that may mean the difference between life and death.
Patients should instead call 911, and then paramedics can quickly perform tests and administer life-saving treatment in the ambulance.
Most important, paramedics can rush patients to cardiac centers that are ready to unblock clogged arteries. Not all hospitals fit that category.
Last year, 53 percent of people diagnosed with a heart attack in San Diego County brought themselves to the hospital, according to the county’s Emergency Medical Services office.
In the next few weeks, Palomar Pomerado’s message will be aired on radio, television and movie screens throughout the county. In addition, the health system’s officials will send more than 5,000 DVDs featuring the Jim character to senior centers and private residences.
When patients drive to the hospital, resulting delays can cause valuable heart muscle to die even if the patients survive, said Dr. Dennis Leahy of Palomar Pomerado, an interventional cardiologist who is leading the campaign.
“One can lose the ability to work, feel weakness, have shortness of breath and be unable to do the things you enjoy,” Leahy said.
Patients whose blocked arteries are unclogged within 150 minutes have double the mortality rate of those who undergo the procedure within 90 minutes, Leahy said.
“That’s the difference between using the 911 system and walking or driving yourself to the hospital,” he added.
Medical experts realize that far too often, people assume all hospitals can provide equal heart-attack care at any given time. But not every facility has a catheterization lab, and the ones that do may not have a cardiologist ready to unclog an artery or insert a stent.
People who drive to a hospital may suffer other delays, such as traffic jams, wrong turns or police action because of speeding. A year ago, Leahy said, a heart attack patient crashed his car in the Palomar emergency room’s parking lot.
Some patients en route by car even die on the way.
Because the paramedic system is so important to cardiovascular care, doctors who work across the street from a hospital will still call an ambulance to handle a patient with heart-attack symptoms, said Dr. Jerrold Glassman, a cardiologist and chief of staff at Scripps Mercy Hospital in Hillcrest.
Steve Escoboza, president of the Hospital Association of San Diego and Imperial Counties, applauded Palomar Pomerado’s efforts. He said county officials should consider adopting a similar campaign that would be wider in reach.
“This should be part of the discussion. There are certainly messages we could disseminate, which all providers agree are common sense,” Escoboza said.
Ken Brower, 59, a Fallbrook water polo coach who suffered a heart attack last Christmas Eve, is featured in the Palomar Pomerado video.
“A lot of us men have the false idea that we can take care of things ourselves,” he said.
Brower called 911, and an ambulance took him to Palomar. Today, he is fine.