Heart Attack Care

Trust Adventist HealthCare Heart & Vascular Institute for fast and effective treatment if you or a loved one have a heart attack.

Early Heart Attack Care

Early Heart Attack Care (EHAC) education teaches you to recognize the early signs and symptoms of a heart attack. By knowing the early signs of a heart attack, you can minimize damage to the heart or save a life – perhaps even your own.

Early Signs & Symptoms of Heart Attack

Someone having a heart attack might have one or more of these common symptoms. When they start, they can be mild or come and go. Over time, the symptoms and pain become more intense. Stay alert and always pay attention to chest pressure.

• Chest pressure, squeezing, aching or burning. This could also be a strange feeling in the chest that typically lasts longer than 20 minutes and may go away and come back
• Feeling of fullness
• Sudden weakness, excessive fatigue or lightheadedness
• Nausea or vomiting
• Anxiety or nervousness
• Pain in the jaw, the back or that travels down one or both shoulders or in the arms
• Shortness of breath

Call 911 right away if you have any symptoms of heart attack. SURVIVE. DON’T DRIVE.

Different Symptoms for Women and Men

Some heart attack symptoms can be different between men and women.

• Men normally feel pain and numbness in the left arm or side of chest, but in women, these symptoms may appear on the right side.
• Women may feel completely exhausted, drained, dizzy or nauseous.
• Women may feel upper back pain that travels up into their jaw.
• Women may think their stomach pain is the flu, heartburn or an ulcer.

Atypical Presentations of Heart Attack

Some people do not experience pain or pressure in the chest. Be alert for the following:

• A sharp or “knife-like” pain that occurs with coughing or breathing.
• Pain that spreads above the jawbone or into the lower body.
• Difficult or labored breathing

Get Help Fast

The faster you get emergency help for a heart attack, the less damage to your heart and the better your chances for a full recovery. Your best choice in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area for heart attack treatment is Adventist HealthCare.

Accredited Chest Pain Centers

Two of our hospitals – Adventist HealthCare White Oak Medical Center in Silver Spring, Maryland, and Adventist HealthCare Shady Grove Medical Center in Rockville, Maryland – hold Chest Pain Center Accreditation from the American College of Cardiology (ACC). That means you can expect care that meets high standards for safety and positive patient outcomes from professionals with specialized training in heart attack care.

Rely on our heart experts to quickly and seamlessly deliver the care you need from the ambulance to your hospital room. That fast, collaborative care is part of what it means to be accredited as a Chest Pain Center with Percutaneous Coronary Intervention (PCI), awarded by ACC. Shady Grove Medical Center and White Oak Medical Center are the only health care facilities in Montgomery County to hold this designation.

Your Ambulance Ride

When you or someone else calls 911, your heart attack diagnosis and treatment starts in the ambulance. Depend on your emergency medical technicians (EMTs) to send results of an electrocardiogram (EKG) test to the cardiovascular experts at Adventist HealthCare. That means even before you arrive, our team is getting ready to provide you with personalized care.

Do not drive if you are experiencing symptoms of a heart attack.

Emergency Heart Care

Rely on our team to use the latest tools and technology to care for you. When you arrive at the hospital, you may receive services such as:

• Diagnostic tests to determine the cause of your symptoms and best treatment
• Cardiac catheterization with percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), or angioplasty, to quickly open an artery if there’s a blockage
• Coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery

Feel peace of mind knowing if you need cardiac catheterization, Adventist HealthCare is in the top 25 percent of facilities nationwide able to give this lifesaving treatment as quickly as possible.

Recovery After a Heart Attack

Look to our compassionate team for the follow-up care, services and support you’ll need for long-term healing.

Community Education & Heart Attack Prevention

Your health – and the health of your neighbors and loved ones in Maryland and Washington, D.C. – are our focus. You may see Adventist HealthCare in your community providing education and outreach services about recognizing and responding to heart attack symptoms.