EMS Tips

Heart Smart

              Lets talk heart to heart, Because many of us don't take good care of our hearts, so I thought it would be a good idea to pass along some advice that might stretch out your life span. Cardiovascular Disease (CVD) is the number 1 killer in America. In fact CVD has been the number 1 killer every year since 1900. (Except for 1918) 59.7 million Americans have one form or another of CVD. That's 1 out of every 5 men and women. CVD killed more than 9,000,000 people in 1997. There are some risk factors that can lead to CVD. Some of these factors you can control and others you can't, like genes or hereditary factors.

               Do you have a close relative that had a heart attach before the age of 55?  Do you smoke? Are you over weight?  Do you have high blood pressure?  Do you have high cholesterol?  Do you exercise?  The three biggest risk factors are the smoking, high blood pressure and high blood cholesterol.  Each one of these alone will double your chance for CVD.  If you have all three then you have a synergistic effect which will increase your risk by eight times. Well there is still hope. Certain things can be done to reduce the risk of CVD and hopefully increase your life span. The best place to start is with the smoking. If you are a smoker then stop. When a person stops smoking their risk of CVD is cut in half, one year later. This will also improve blood flow and lung function. It will also lower the risk of stroke or cancer, and can help stop bronchitis and emphysema from worsening.  If you have high blood pressure then see your Doctor to get it under control with medication. You should also watch your weight, and try to lower your salt intake.  Drinking at least eight glasses of water a day can help along with exercise.  You should exercise for 30 minutes, 3 to 4 times a week.  Start out slow at first then work into a routing and I guarantee you will start to feel better. Have your cholesterol checked. If it is above 240 mg/dl then you increase your chance for CVD.  A proper diet will help to keep this down. A study in the Lancet (a medical journal) done in 1994 showed that patients who had had a heart attack and adopted a so called Mediterranean diet were 70% less likely to have a relapse than those who simply were on a low fat diet. The Mediterranean diet consist of foods that are high in fiber such as whole grains fruits, more root and green vegetables, eat more fish and less red meat. Red meat should be substituted by poultry. Consume more nuts, and legumes and olive oil. Garlic can also help lower blood cholesterol. Take a vitamin that has a good supply of vitamins A, E and C.  These vitamins have antioxidant that can help prevent the fats that travel in the blood stream from forming compounds, that can clog or damage your blood vessels.  Some of the warning signs of a heart attack are chest pain or pressure, fullness or a squeezing of the chest, the pain can move to the shoulders neck or arms. Lightheadedness, fainting, sweating, nausea, shortness of breath. These symptoms may come and go or may be constant. If you have ever had these symptoms in the past then you should go see your Doctor if you haven't already. If you have these symptoms and they last for more than a few minuets and don't go away then you should call 911.  Having a heart attack is not something to waste time with. To keep it short and simple, a heart attack is the heart muscle not getting enough oxygen due to a clog or blockage of the arteries that supply the heart. When the heart tissue goes long enough without oxygen the tissue begin to die and this damage is irreversible. When the heart is not getting enough oxygen, it will let you know by some of the signs we talked about.  The entire goal is to get treatment before permanent damage sets in. There are certain things we can do on the ambulance to help prevent the loss or further loss of heart muscle. The two most important are high concentration of oxygen to the patient and a rapid transport to an emergency facility. The other things we do that are also very important is to treat the patient with medication that can not only reduce the chest pain but also dilate the arteries to help improve blood flow to the heart. Our paramedics can also place the patient on a heart monitor that gives us a picture of the hearts electrical activity. We also have medications that can help with a heart beating to slow or to fast. Our monitors are also capable of heart pacing or defibrillating. Remember time is the key. Don't wait until it is too late. It is far better to get early help on a false alarm than it is to put it off. One of the best preventative things you and your loved ones could do is to take a CPR class. Doing early CPR on a patient that has stopped breathing is the best thing to do to help increase their chance for survival. If you don't know how to do CPR but would like to learn then call us (535-4346) at the Fire Station. We will be holding CPR classes at the Fire Station on the Fourth Thursday of each month for the general public. Cost will be ten dollars per person, and you must come in to register at least 2 days in advance to get your name on the list. So be good to your heart and it will be good to you. The last bit of advice that I would like to give is lower your stress. Take a break or a much needed vacation. Don't stress over things that can't be changed, tell your family you love them, do a good deed for someone who needs it, smile, laugh.

Have a good day.
Wade Allen
Captain Paramedic

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