Sidney Health Center and the Emergency Medical Services staff want everyone to know the signs of heart attacks and strokes.
“The public really can’t identify a heart attack or stroke for whatever reason,” Josh King, Richland County EMS director, said. That’s a problem because heart attacks rank first among deaths in the United States and strokes rank third.
Heart attacks are 90 percent of the time caused by a blood clot that blocks one of the coronary arteries, the vessel that brings blood and oxygen to the heart. The typical signs of heart attacks include shortness of breath, chest and jaw pain, pain down the left arm and a sense of impending doom. Females and diabetics usually experience indigestion and shortness of breath.
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Signs of stroke include sudden severe headache and numbness, confusion, trouble speaking and understand words and dizziness. King says the EMTs are more prepared than ever before when it comes to treating people with heart attacks and strokes.
“We are able to provide more effective patient care due to the fact that we (for the last several years) have trained our crew in more advanced medical interventions,” he said. “We are now initiating various interventions that would have previously waited until the patient arrives to the ER.”
EMTS will be handing out brochures and information packets on the signs and symptoms of heart attacks and strokes as well as the preventative steps. They’ll also give free blood sugar level checks.
reporter@sidneyherald.com
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