Heart attack patients treated off-hours do as well
“Together these studies suggest there have been significant gains made by hospitals in providing high-quality care and excellent clinical outcomes for patients presenting with STEMI, irrespective of the time of day or day of the week,” Fonarow told Reuters Health.
Still, that doesn’t mean all hospitals provide the same care, day or night.
The hospitals in Fonarow’s study were all part of the American Heart Association’s “Get With The Guidelines” program - which was designed to improve heart attack patients’ care. The performance at those hospitals could be better than at other centers.
And Egred said that more studies, particularly at smaller hospitals, are still needed.
First Aid
If you think someone is having a heart attack:
Have the person sit down, rest, and try to keep calm.
Loosen any tight clothing.
Ask if the person takes any chest pain medication for a known heart condition, such as nitroglycerin, and help them take it.
If the pain does not go away promptly with rest or within 3 minutes of taking nitroglycerin, call for emergency medical help.
If the person is unconscious and unresponsive, call 911 (or your local emergency number), then begin CPR.
If an infant or child is unconscious and unresponsive, perform 1 minute of CPR, then call 911.
DO NOT
Do NOT leave the person alone except to call for help, if necessary.
Do NOT allow the person to deny the symptoms and convince you not to call for emergency help.
Do NOT wait to see if the symptoms go away.
Do NOT give the person anything by mouth unless a heart medication (such as nitroglycerin) has been prescribed.
Milder, “non-STEMI” heart attacks can often be treated with medication, though many patients end up having an angioplasty. However, Egred said, those patients would typically not need an emergency procedure on the spot.
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SOURCE: European Heart Journal, online September 4, 2012.