Chronic Health Conditions Discussion and Support

Getting him anywhere where he can get medical attention was the right thing to do. Urgent Care can identify heart attack, probably run and EKG to diagnose the specifics, and get him on the way to cath lab.

I'm an EMT in a volunteer rescue squad in rural Virginia. Our little local general hospital has very limited capability. For us, heart attacks; strokes; gunshots; head, neck, spinal trauma; and broken bones other than a broken arm all get helicopter to Richmond.

We are able to transmit EKG strips and patient vitals via cell phone to the Richmond or other area medical center ER; your urgent care likely could do that, which will really speed up things when he gets to the hospital.

Prayers for both of you coming for the boondocks of rural Virginia!!

And anyone else who reads this: Especially if you are over 50/55, CALL 911 with: any chest pain or anything that feels like chest pain, no matter how mild; any fall; any thing that feels funny -- slurred speech, facial droop, one arm or leg that doesn't work quite right.

We EMTs can check it out, we have the equipment, we can get you to primary care fast. Time you spend arguing with the family about calling/not calling 911 makes a lot of difference -- for example, in the case of a typical heart attack, the doc wants no more than 90 minutes "from onset to balloon" -- 90 minutes from onset of the heart attack until the doc gets a stint in place in the arteries of the heart. Anything over that causes damage to the heart muscle. The first 60 minutes of a stroke is "the golden hour" -- paramedics and helicopter crews can administer certain clot-busting drugs that will give the doc and you extra time in case of a stroke. CALL 911.