Time to Treat – Minutes Matter

Heart attack and stroke are life-and-death emergencies -- every second counts. If you see or have any of the symptoms, immediately call 911. Not all these signs occur in every heart attack or stroke. Sometimes they go away and return. If some occur, get help fast! Today heart attack and stroke victims can benefit from new medications and treatments unavailable to patients in years past. For example, clot-busting drugs can stop some heart attacks and strokes in progress, reducing disability and saving lives. But to be effective, these drugs must be given relatively quickly after heart attack or stroke symptoms first appear. So again, don't delay -- get help right away!

Heart Attack Warning Signs:

• Chest discomfort. Most heart attacks involve discomfort in the center of the chest that lasts more than a few minutes, or that goes away and comes back. It can feel like uncomfortable pressure, squeezing, fullness or pain. 
    
• Discomfort in other areas of the upper body. Symptoms can include pain or discomfort in one or both arms, the back, neck, jaw or stomach.  
   
• Shortness of breath. This feeling often comes along with chest discomfort. But it can occur before the chest discomfort. 
    
• Other signs: These may include breaking out in a cold sweat, nausea or lightheadedness 

Stroke Warning Signs:

• Sudden numbness or weakness of the face, arm or leg, especially on one side of the body   
• Sudden confusion, trouble speaking or understanding   
• Sudden trouble seeing in one or both eyes   
• Sudden trouble walking, dizziness, loss of balance or coordination   
• Sudden, severe headache with no known cause

Time to Treat:

• CARDIAC ARREST:  More than 95 percent of sudden cardiac arrest victims die before reaching the hospital.  Brain death starts to occur in just four to six minutes after someone experiences sudden cardiac arrest.  Survival is directly linked to the amount of time between the onset of sudden cardiac arrest and defibrillation.  Chances of survival are reduced by 7-10 percent with every minute of delay.  Few attempts at resuscitation are successful after 10 minutes.

• HEART ATTACK:  Clot-busting drugs and other artery-opening treatments can stop a heart attack in its tracks. They can prevent or limit damage to the heart–but they need to be given immediately after symptoms begin. The sooner they are started, the more good they will do–and the greater the chances are for survival and a full recovery. To be most effective, they need to be given ideally within 1 hour of the start of heart attack symptoms.  It is during that crucial 60-minute window that clot-busting medication and other treatments are most effective. Alarmingly, only 1 in 5 patients gets to the hospital emergency department soon enough to benefit from these treatments

• STROKE: Early treatment is available for many strokes, but is only effective if the patient receives care within three hours of the onset of symptoms.  However, nationally, only three percent of stroke patients receive treatment within the three-hour period.