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D.C. EMT becomes cardiac patient, spreads hope to others

Waited 12 hours to call 9-1-1 because MI symptoms didn’t match her training

By Paula Wolfson
WTOP.com

WASHINGTON — Eileen Williams was a veteran Prince William County Emergency Medical Technician, and then one day, she became the heart attack patient in the back of a county ambulance rushing to a hospital. Williams was beyond scared. She was a cardiac technician who had waited 12 hours to call for help because her initial symptoms did not match her medical training.

She says she felt a sense of doom and “did not think I was coming home.” But she fought her way back and began to train other EMTs about how best to handle women with heart symptoms. She also launched a program to help the patients they transport and treat. Three fire departments in the county now have equipped their ambulances to provide some extra TLC.

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