Heart Attack Treatment

When a heart attack occurs, it's critical to recognize the signals and respond immediately. About half of all heart attack victims wait two hours or longer before deciding to get help. This reduces their chance of survival, because most heart attack victims who die do so within two hours of when the signals begin. Time is critical. Anyone experiencing the warning signals of a heart attack should be taken immediately to the nearest hospital with 24-hour emergency cardiac care. People who become unconscious before reaching the emergency room may receive emergency cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR).

Most communities have an emergency cardiac care system that can quickly respond to an emergency. This prompt care for heart attack victims dramatically reduces damage to the heart. In fact, 80 percent of heart attack survivors can return to work within three months. Prompt care for heart attack victims isn't the only reason so many people recover so quickly, but it's an important one.

The importance of time cannot be overemphasized. When a coronary artery gets blocked, the heart muscle doesn't die instantaneously - damage increases the longer an artery remains blocked. If a victim gets to an emergency room fast enough, a form of reperfusion therapy (called thrombolysis) sometimes can be performed. lt involves injecting a thrombolytic (clot-dissolving) agent, such as streptokinase, urokinase or tPA (tissue plasminogen activator), to dissolve a clot in a coronary artery and restore some blood flow. These drugs must be used within a few (usually 1-3) hours of a heart attack for best effect. The sooner a drug is used, the more effective it's likely to be.