District News Commisioner Articles

Fire Commissioners Column……….

Bill Madison 

Before retiring I spent nearly 30 years on the street as a fire department paramedic.  Cardiac problems (heart attacks) were one of the most common medical emergencies I responded to.  Amazingly, nearly half of the patients experiencing some type of cardiac event deigned that their symptoms could be related to a heart problem.  Generally we think of heart attack symptoms as the classical “crushing substernal chest pain”.  In my experience however I don’t think there is a classical or typical one-size-fits-all heart attack symptom.   

Men usually describe pain associated with a heart attack as a heavy, squeezing, or tight feeling.  Often they will unconsciously clench their fist or rub their chest when describing the pain.  Sometimes the pain will radiate into the left arm, jaw or upper back.  Women often describe the pain of a heart attack as indigestion, nausea, lightheadedness or epigastric burning and sudden weakness. Sometimes the only symptom is trouble breathing or unexplained tiredness.  Patients are usually pale, with cool skin and appear confused, anxious or frightened.  Generally, more men in our population have heart disease, but more women die of heart attacks, in part because their symptoms are less clear-cut.

So what should you do if you think someone is having a heart attack?  Obviously the number one action is to call 911 and get EMS on the way.  Next, have the person sit down and do whatever you can to put them physically and mentally at ease.  They should not walk anywhere or exert themselves at all.  The idea is to not stress the heart any more than it already is until help arrives.  If the person in distress is not allergic to aspirin and doesn’t suffer from gastro intestinal bleeding you can have them chew two to four baby aspirin (81mg) tablets.   Don’t use the coated type aspirin.

Today’s EMS providers are usually well trained and well equipped to deal with this type of emergency.  They will immediately give the patient oxygen to lessen the load on the heart muscle.  The team will probably obtain a set of vitals (pulse, blood pressure, breathing rate, oxygen saturation etc.).  Often they will start an IV and if required give medications to relieve pain.  An EKG will be obtained to see which area of the heart may be affected.  If needed EMS can place the patient on a pacemaker, slow down a rapid heartbeat with a cardioversion or defibrillate a heart in ventricular fibrillation. 

 Since time is of the essence in these situations, don’t hesitate to call the fire department if you think you or someone is having a heart attack.  This isn’t the time to try in get in touch with your doctor or drive yourself to the hospital or clinic.  Nearly half a million Americans die from sudden cardiac arrhythmias each year and over half of them die outside of a hospital, during the first 2 to 3 hours of onset.

You’ve probably seen the signs on some of the district fire stations “VOLUNTEERS NEEDED”.  We are searching for responsible individuals to become firefighters and EMTs.  If you think you might be interested please call us at 262-9660 for information.

Give us your opinion.  If you prefer, you may E-Mail the fire chief or any of the commissioners and let us know your thoughts at www.scfpd1.com.  Click on “contacts” and select the person you would like to contact.

Bill Madison, fire commissioner