AMERICAN HEART MONTH

IF YOU OR A LOVED ONE IS EXPERIENCING THE SIGNS OF A HEART ATTACK, CALL 911.

This puts you in contact with a trained dispatcher who will tell you what to do and sends an ambulance to your location. When the ambulance arrives, treatment begins in your home and the emergency department is prepared for your arrival at the hospital. Because your symptoms may get worse, driving yourself is a bad idea.

The Chest Pain Center at Capital Health Medical Center – Hopewell is accredited by the Society of Cardiovascular Patient Care and the American College of Cardiology. This means the Center meets high standards for diagnosing and treating cardiac emergencies, such as heart attacks.

When someone is having a heart attack, time to treatment is critical. Capital Health’s pre-hospital alert system allows ambulance patients to be tested in their homes and mobilizes an interventional team at the hospital if there is evidence of a heart attack, saving time for an initial EKG test or faster bedside blood tests for troponin, a protein that enters the blood stream during a heart attack.

If you or a loved one is having a severe heart attack caused by prolonged restricted blood flow due to a clot or ruptured plaque, Capital Health’s Cardiac Catheterization Lab is ready to provide an emergency stent placement.

After you or your loved one has recovered, your last step is preventing another heart attack or heart-related illness. The Cardiac Rehabilitation Center, located at Capital Health Medical Center – Hopewell, offers a team of physicians, nurses, exercise physiologists and registered dietitians who provide individually prescribed education and exercise.

All program candidates are interviewed prior to entering the Cardiac Rehabilitation program, which allows a team to develop and implement a personalized care plan. Participants include those who have experienced:

Acute myocardial infarction (heart attack) within the past 12 months

Coronary artery bypass surgery

Current, stable chest pain (angina pectoris)

… Heart valve repair or replacement

… Angioplasty or stenting to open blocked coronary arteries

Heart or heart-lung transplant surgery

Stable, chronic heart failure

Talk to your doctor about participating in cardiac rehabilitation. Visit capitalhealth.org/cardiacrehab for more information.

DO MEN & WOMEN HAVE DIFFERENT SIGNS/SYMPTOMS OF HEART ATTACK?

YES

SYMPTOM MEN WOMEN

Chest Pain

Shortness of breath

Sweating

Crushing, center of chest

With or before pain, may occur

With cold, clammy skin, may occur

Arm Pain Pain, numbness

Back, Neck, Jaw Pain May occur

Stomach Pain May occur

Indigestion May occur

Anxiety May occur

Fatigue May occur

Dizzy/ Lightheaded May occur

Pressure, tightness, ache, stomach pain, sweating

With or before pain, common

Similar to men

Similar to men

More common than in men

Extend to abdomen or only abdomen

2x’s more likely than men

Mistaken for panic

Flu-like symptoms

More common than in men

If you or someone you know is experiencing these signs and symptoms, call 911.