Decoding Warning Signs Of Female Heart Attacks – Part II

Paying heed to crucial heart attack symptoms

Feeling a mix of uncommon symptoms or a first-time sensation in the chest or stomach is reason enough to promptly call for medical assistance. Women are perennially flooded with truckloads of responsibilities in the personal and professional front and often put themselves last in the list, that can be quite detrimental.

The more a woman delays in getting treated for opening the blockage in the blood vessels to the heart, the greater harm is inflicted to the heart muscle. If there is massive damage to the heart muscle then there is more likelihood of heart failure.

Women have been cited to have more undetected heart attacks as compared to men, and are more often wrongly diagnosed and let off from emergency units.

Being Assertive in case of an heart attack

Women need to adopt an assertive approach when communicating with the doctors and other medical staff. On arrival at the emergency unit, women must clearly state that they are experiencing a heart attack and require prompt evaluation.

The bare, instant evaluation must comprise being put on oxygen supply, having an aspirin, blood being drawn out, an ECG or electrocardiogram to be carried out and getting a heart monitor in the initial minutes of arrival.

Being pushy and audacious could help save lives. If the concerned medical staff like the nurse or ER physician is not taking the patient’s concerns critically, then all women must promptly ask for the concerned cardiologist.

Many women don’t know the right kind of queries to voice though they are quite sure that something is not right within. Women need to be relentless and keep on advocating oneself as there is no one better than yourself who would properly know one’s body.

Inquiring about one’s locally available heart attack resources

One of the highly crucial means of advocating for oneself would be to do a little ground work. Taking pre-emptive measures prior to the actual emergency is always a prudent option. Women need to inquire about the various hospitals in close vicinity and their available facilities. A few enquiries need to be asked:

• The availability of the cath lab, if it is round-the-clock basis, all days of the week.
• Checking the availability of a coronary bypass surgery program.
• Checking the promptness at which the patient is sent to the cath lab following admission into the emergency room.
• Will the doctors perform de-blockage of the blood vessel in the standard time range of 90 minutes?
• Do the physicians belonging to the emergency department have board certification in emergency medicine.

Read more at: Decoding Warning Signs Of Female Heart Attacks – Part I

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