When It Comes to a Heart Attack, "Time Is Muscle"
Every second counts when it’s a heart attack. Doctors recommend calling 911 as soon as you experience heart attack symptoms.
Dec. 15, 2017
3 minute read
Ron Greaser’s chest was hurting. He was sweating, and his stomach was upset. But he didn’t feel ill enough to call 911. Instead, he went home sick from his job bagging groceries at the Piggly Wiggly in Sussex, thinking with a little rest he would feel better. But when Ron got home, the pain got worse.
“All of a sudden I had pain in my arm, in my chest and in my jaw,” Ron said. “I told my wife Sandy, 'It’s time to call 911. I think I am having a heart attack.'”
Ron Greaser and his wife Sandy
Pewaukee paramedics transported Ron, 76, to Community Memorial Hospital in Menomonee Falls. They communicated his EKG results to the hospital’s emergency department while en-route.
“I requested to be transported to Community Memorial because I know that hospital,” Ron said. "My wife and I have been going there for 40 years.”
But Ron had never had a heart attack, and he had never been to the emergency department.
“It all happened so fast,” Sandy said. “We were both so nervous.”
The sight of the cardiac care team waiting for Ron on arrival was an immediate source of calm for the Greasers.
“That helped save me,” Ron said. As soon as they got me out of the ambulance and wheeled me into the ER, Dr. Wynsen was right there. It was such a relief because I knew there was help for me right there.”
In a Heart Attack, Every Second Counts
“We know seconds count,” said John C. Wynsen, MD, cardiologist at Community Memorial Hospital. “When you’re talking about a heart attack, time is muscle. It is of vital importance to get the vessel open as soon as possible. Every minute that goes by, more heart muscle is going to die.”
This is why doctors recommend calling 911 as soon as you experience heart attack symptoms.
In Ron’s case, his right coronary artery was completely blocked. Dr. Wynsen placed a stent in the artery to restore the blood flow. This type of procedure is called a catheterization.
Within 35 minutes of arriving at the hospital, Ron’s completely blocked vessel had been opened, his chest pain was gone, and he was feeling better. This rapid success was possible thanks to close communication between EMS and emergency department staff. Also, Dr. Wynsen and his team were ready and waiting to get Ronald into the hospital’s catheterization lab immediately.
Ron went home after two days in the hospital. He has a new prescription for different medication for his high cholesterol and is following a low-carb diet. He stays active at work, as he is on his feet for most of the day. Ron says he never expected to have a heart attack — he had passed his last stress-test — but he realizes now that he had been lacking energy for weeks leading up to his heart attack.
“Sandy told me I just wasn’t the same, and I can see that now,” Ron said. “I am so thankful for the rapid response I got from everyone — the paramedics, the doctors and the nurses. I am thankful I am alive.”