Heart Attack: What to Expect in The Emergency Room

Heart attacks are medically known as myocardial infarctions. Heart attack symptoms can differ from one person to the other, and they can either be mild or severe. However, some common signs that people experience include chest pain, nausea, lightheadedness, and shortness of breath.

What is A Heart Attack?

Blocking or cutting off blood supply to the heart can cause a heart attack. Insufficient blood flow can damage the affected area and make the heart muscle to start dying.

The heart requires blood and oxygen to function properly. When either is insufficient, you may experience heart failure or other complications.

Myocardial infarctions are life-threatening emergencies; ensure you seek immediate care right away.

Heart Attack Symptoms

A heart attack occurs differently in people; some may have severe symptoms while others have mild symptoms, and others may even have no symptoms. The symptoms may also vary from man to woman.

Here are common heart attack symptoms:

• Chest pain. You may feel heaviness, discomfort, or crushing pain. It may begin in the chest and spread to other body parts, such as the left or right arm, neck, shoulder, or jaw.
• Trouble breathing
• Dizziness, lightheadedness, or passing out
• Stomach discomfort or nausea. Sometimes heart attacks are mistaken for indigestion.
• Shortness of breath
• Fatigue
• Cold sweat
• Heart palpitations

If you are displaying the above symptoms, don’t hesitate to call for help.

Let’s look at what happens when you are taken to an emergency room near you after having a heart attack.

What to Expect in The Emergency Room

Call an emergency helpline if you are experiencing signs of a heart attack. When paramedics arrive, they will know how to take care of you. If you try driving yourself to the nearest hospital, you will likely die from arrhythmia.

An electrocardiogram (EKG) helps to diagnose a heart attack. When the paramedics arrive, they will do an EKG, and if the test results seem suspicious, they contact the emergency department, so they are ready to treat you when you arrive.

Upon your arrival at the ER in Houston, TX, the doctors and nurses will determine if you are experiencing a heart attack. The EKG and the symptoms will support that. The next step is to focus on how to open the artery as fast as possible. The damage done depends on how quickly you get to the artery. After that, you are moved from the emergency room to the heart catheterization lab.

The medical staff is very quick in evaluating and diagnosing the issue because it’s vital to receive treatment within 90 minutes from the moment you begin experiencing symptoms.

Memorial Heights Emergency Center is open 24/7 to provide patients with the necessary care. We are equipped to handle different emergencies, so don’t hesitate to contact us.

Now that we have looked at what happens in the ER, let’s look at ways to prevent heart attacks.

Heart Attack Prevention

Despite there being several risk factors that are out of your control, there are certain things you can do to have a healthy heart. Below are a few examples:

• Eat a balanced diet. Try adding foods rich in nutrients to your diet as frequently as possible. Focus on whole grains, vegetables, lean proteins, fruits, seeds, nuts, and low-fat dairy, and avoid eating too many fatty foods and foods with simple sugars such as baked goods, sodas, and white bread.
• Schedule a checkup. Select a primary care provider and book an appointment with them at least once a year for a wellness or checkup visit. An annual checkup can detect early signs of heart disease that you can’t notice. Some of them may include blood sugar levels, blood pressure, and cholesterol levels.
• Exercise regularly. Aim for two and ½ hours of physical activity every week.
• Maintain a healthy weight. Your doctor can set a healthy goal weight for you and provide you with guidance and resources to aid you in achieving it.
• Quit smoking. Smoking increases the risk of heart disease. If you smoke tobacco or vape, consider talking to your doctor about starting a smoking cessation program.
• Reduce your stress. There are certain ways to alleviate stress, such as yoga, meditation, and deep breathing.