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	Heart Attack Symptoms

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emergency treatments for heart attacks

Emergency Treatments For Heart Attacks
By Bobby Gill

Emergency Treatments for Heart Attacks

Defibrillation is where the patient is given an electrical shock to restore normal rhythms of the heart. The availability of portable defibrillators in airports and office buildings is increasing. As a result of this progress, emergency treatments for heart attacks can be started much earlier than in the past and thus saves more lives. More lives are saved mainly because critical time is saved between the onset of the heart attack and the treatment by medical professionals.

Another state of the art emergency treatment is thrombolytics. Thrombolytics are known as blood-clot-busting drugs and are standard medications used to open the arteries. They are administered as soon as possible in those emergency centers where angioplasty is not available or in patients who are not good candidates for angioplasty.

Wikipedia defines an anticoagulant as a substance that prevents coagulation; that is, it stops blood from clotting. A group of pharmaceuticals called anticoagulants can be used as a medication for thrombosis disorders. Some chemical compounds are used in medical equipment, such as test tubes, blood transfusion bags, and renal dialysis equipment. The anticoagulant used for immediate emergency treatments for heart attacks include aspirin which is an antiplatelet drug. Aspirin should be taken immediately after a heart attack either via swallowing or by chewing. Note that chewing the aspirin provides quicker benefit and that critical time saving is of the essence here! If the patient has not taken an aspirin at home, it will be given at the hospital. Another anticoagulant is clopidogrel which is a stronger antiplatelet drug usually administered in combination with other anticlotting drugs. For moderate to high risk patients the anticoagulant Heparin is usually administered. Low-molecular weight heparin (LMWH), such as enoxaparin, is now recommended over standard heparin. Another type of blood thinner, fondaparinux (or called Arixtra) is showing promise for treating patients with the severe type of heart attack named STEMI (ST-elevation myocardial infarction). For angioplasty patients, glycoprotein IIb/IIIa inhibitors (antiplatelet drugs) such as tirofiban, are added to the mix.

There are artery-opening treatments including thrombolytic Drugs or Emergency Angioplasty also called percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasy (PTCA) or coronary angioplasty or balloon angioplasty. After a heart attack, clots form in the injured artery within 4 to 6 hours in 90% of patients. Opening a clotted artery as quickly as possible is the best approach to improving survival.

More invasive emergency treatments include direct cardiac massage of the heart and coronary artery bypass. These treatments usually require longer hospital time to recover from the treatment itself.

Current News about CCR versus CPR Study by Dr. Bobrow Medical Director of the Arizona's Bureau of Emergency Medical Services and Trauma System.

"Cardiac arrest is a disease where we have not seen an improvement in survival in more than 25 years, and CCR has shown it can triple the current rate," confirms Dr. Bobrow, principal investigator of the study, states “CCR involves delivering a series of rapidly applied chest compressions — without pausing for mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. In most occurrences of witnessed cardiac arrest, over-ventilation is common and decreases the chance of successful resuscitation.” The advantage of CCR over traditional CPR is that it better maintains steady blood flow to the heart and brain during resuscitation. This is important to survival, as well as obtaining a favorable neurological outcome. It also minimizes the danger of over-ventilation, which increases intra-thoracic pressure in the chest that can endanger critical blood flow back to the heart.