Heart Attack

By
Chris McLaren
 Nature of the Medical
Condition?
• A heart attack occurs when there is a
sudden, complete blockage of a coronary
artery that supplies blood to an area of
the heart. As a result, some of the heart
muscle begins to die. Without early
medical treatment this damage can be
permanent.
 Nature of the Medical
Condition?

• What causes a heart attack?

• The heart is a muscular pump that needs a continuous
supply of oxygen. It gets this oxygen from the blood,
which flows to the heart muscle through arteries on the
heart's surface. These arteries are called the coronary
arteries.
• The most common cause of heart attack is coronary heart
disease (CHD) - the slow build-up of fatty deposits on the
inner wall of the arteries that supply the heart muscle
with blood. These fatty deposits, called plaque, gradually
clog the inside channel of the arteries causing them to
narrow. It is a process that begins early in life and
 Nature of the Medical
Condition?
• What causes a heart attack? Cont.
• A heart attack usually begins when an area of
plaque cracks. Blood cells and other
components of the blood stick over the
damaged area and form a clot that suddenly
and completely blocks the blood flow to the
heart muscle. If the artery remains blocked,
the lack of blood flow through that artery
permanently damages the area of heart
muscle that it supplies blood to.
Signs and Symptoms
• Heart attack symptoms vary. Not all heart attacks
begin with a sudden, crushing pain that is often shown
on TV or in the movies. The warning signs and
symptoms of a heart attack aren’t the same for
everyone. Many heart attacks start slowly as mild
pain or discomfort. Some people don’t have symptoms
at all (this is called a silent heart attack).
• The symptoms usually last for at least 10 minutes
and you may experience more than one of the heart
attack symptoms below.
 Signs and Symptoms

• Pain in the chest

• The most common symptom of heart attack is chest
pain or discomfort. The pain sometimes starts
slowly, or may come on suddenly, or develop over a
few minutes. Most heart attacks involve discomfort
in the center of the chest that lasts for more than
a few minutes or goes away and comes back. It may
feel like tightness, pressure, heaviness, fullness, or
squeezing. The feeling has been described as: 'like a
steel band tightening around my chest', 'like an
elephant sitting on my chest' or 'like a red hot
poker in the centre of my chest'. The pain can range
from severe, to moderate or even mild. Heart attack
 Signs and Symptoms
• Pain spreading
• The chest discomfort may spread to the neck and throat,
jaw, shoulders, the back, either or both arms and even into
the wrists and hands.

• Discomfort in the upper body

• Some people do not get any chest pain -only discomfort in
parts of the upper body. There may be a choking feeling in
the throat. The arms may feel 'heavy' or 'useless'.

• Other symptoms
Often there may also be difficulty breathing, nausea or
vomiting, a cold sweat or a feeling of being dizzy or light-
headed.
 Signs and Symptoms
• The symptoms of angina can be similar to the symptoms of
a heart attack. Angina is pain in the chest that occurs in
people with coronary artery disease, usually when they’re
active. Angina pain usually lasts for only a few minutes and
goes away with rest. Angina that doesn’t go away or that
changes from its usual pattern (occurs more frequently or
occurs at rest) can be a sign of the beginning of a heart
attack and should be checked by a doctor right away.
•  
• Women's most common heart attack symptom is chest pain
or discomfort. But women are somewhat more likely than
men to experience some of the other common symptoms,
particularly shortness of breath, nausea/vomiting, and
back or jaw pain.
Primary Management Techniques
• Heart Attack Treatment
• First you must conduct a primary survey of the casualty;
• A primary survey consists of following the DRABCD procedure, this involves;
• D = DANGER – If I find a heart attack casualty I should check for any
surrounding danger to myself first and for the casualty and others
• R = Response – I should asses whether the person is conscious or unconscious
using the COWS procedure; -Can you hear me, -Open your eyes, -What is
your name, -Squeeze my hand.
• A = Airways - After response if the casualty is unconscious I should then
check the airways for any obstructions or blockages and if there is a
blockage turn the victim onto his/her side and clear the airway.
• B = Breathing – The next step if the patient is unconscious is to check for
signs of life. Check for breathing by using look, listen and feel technique. If
breathing place the casualty in recovery position, if not give 2 rescue
breaths and...
• C = Compressions - If the casualty is unconscious with no breathing, start
compressions immediately! Give 30 compressions. At a rate of 100
compressions per minute (approx 2 compressions per second). At 1/3 depth
of the casualty’s chest.
Primary Management Techniques
• If the casualty is conscious attempt to sit him/her in a
comfortable position and encourage relaxation and steady
breathing until emergencies arrive.
• It is also vital that the blood flow to your heart is quickly
restored. This is usually achieved in one of the following ways:
• Fibrinolysis
• involves the use of special clot-dissolving medications which
are administered directly into the blood stream.
• Angioplasty and stent implantation
• Coronary angioplasty is a heart attack treatment that aims to
restore blood flow to the heart by using a special balloon to
open a blocked artery from the inside
Primary Management Techniques
• Bypass surgery
• Coronary Artery Bypass Graft Surgery is an operation in
which blood flow is redirected around a narrowed area,
allowing blood to flow more freely to the heart muscle.
•  
• Implantable cardiac defibrillators (ICDs)
• After recovering from a heart attack, some people may
develop, or be at high risk of developing, abnormal heart
rhythms (arrhythmias) which could be life-threatening. In
some cases, a small device can be implanted in the chest
and connected to the heart in order to treat such an
arrhythmia if it occurs. This device is called an implantable
cardiac defibrillator (ICD). 
 Primary Management Techniques
Recovery

• Heart Attack Recovery

• Modern treatments, along with healthy lifestyle choices, can assist in
recovering from a heart attack and greatly reduce the risk of further
heart problems and relieve or control symptoms such as angina.
• The most important things you can do to reduce your risk and aid heart
attack recovery are:
• Take medications as prescribed by a doctor
• Be smoke free
• Enjoy healthy eating
• Be physically active
• Control blood pressure
• Achieve and maintain a healthy body weight
• If the person affected has diabetes, they should also aim to keep their
Primary Management Techniques
Recovery
• Cardiac rehabilitation
• The Heart Foundation and the World Health Organization
recommend that all those who have had a heart attack,
heart surgery, coronary angioplasty, angina or other heart
or blood vessel disease are routinely referred to an
appropriate cardiac rehabilitation and prevention program
for cardiac care.
• These programs are designed to help you make practical,
potentially life-saving changes to the way you live. They
can provide you and your family with education,
information, physical activity programs and support, which
can complement the help and cardiac care you receive from
your GP and/or cardiologist.
 Bibliography
• Heart Foundation Australia. (no date). Heart Attack
http://www.heartfoundation.org.au/Heart_Information/Adult_Conditions/Heart_Attack.htm?gclid=CP2lje_alJUCFQy

• Retrieved – August 16th

• National Heart Lung and Blood Institute. (March 2008). What is a Heart Attack?.
http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/dci/Diseases/HeartAttack/HeartAttack_WhatIs.html
• Retrieved - August 16th

• American Heart Association. (2008). Heart Attack, Stroke and Cardiac Arrest Warning Signs.
http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=3053
• Retrieved - August 16th

• Medicine Net.com. (2008). Heart Attack. http://www.medicinenet.com/heart_attack/article.htm .

• Retrieved - August 16th

• Cardiology Channel. (2008). Heart Attack. http://www.cardiologychannel.com/heartattack/index.shtml

• Retrieved - August 16th