A friend mine of did the same - drove herself to the emergency room in the nick of time. I think she was already behind the wheel when it started, tho.

Ladies, carry a small bottle in your purse

If you check the travel section of most drugstores, you can buy a little sealed packet with one or two aspirins in it that will fit in the tiniest minaudière or wrist wallet.

Thanks for the timely reminder, tinam.

& don't neglect to get a checkup!

Great and very timely advice, Tina! DH counsels his patients all the time to do this. And, some have still driven themselves to the hospital or, even worse, to his clinic when thinking they possibly could be having a heart attack! That wasted time is so critical if one IS indeed having one! His advise to patients is always, " When in doubt, err on the safe side. It's your life that you're taking a chance on!"

One gadget that has come in handy many times for me is the recharable home Blood Presure/pulse gizmo. I'm not kidding, if not for that gizmo my husband would not have gone to ER on several occasions. He would not listen to me but would pay attention to those readings. In his case, with the heart defect, Afib and valve-y he was in a very high risk of stroke.

My husband and I both take low dose asperin daily. Anyone with any risk factors is usually advised to do so.

I had to spend a few hours at the ER a couple of weekends ago. (my husband's doctor told him to go, but that's another story)

Anyway, while sitting in the waiting area, I heard lots of people checking in. For those who weren't having serious problems they went to a triage room for a few minutes, then cam out to wait.

One man, in his late sixties, told the woman who checked him in that his left shoulder hurt, and he didn't know if it was sprained or not, and couldn't remember how he might have hurt it. He went on to say that left arm also hurt, along with his chest and back! I whispered to my husband that "that guy is having a heart attack!"

Needless to say, he didn't come back to the waiting area after going to the triage room.

Also, he was asked when he checked in if he drove himself there, since he had just walked in. He said no, his wife had driven, but she was parking the car.

If you are driven to the ER in an ambulance, the odds are very much in your favor that you get attended to immediately. Not so much if you drive yourself or have someone drive you.

If you say you're experiencing chest pain, they WILL prioritize you @ the ER.

Yes, chest pain and breathing issues get STAT treatment in any competent ER.

Apparently women may have different signs of heart attack than men.

I can't find it now but also read aspirin doesn't help women to ward off heart attacks when taken daily. Not sure if that were a valid study or not.

Women's heat attack signs

"Heart Attack Signs in Women

1. Uncomfortable
   pressure, squeezing, fullness or pain in the center of your chest. It
   lasts more than a few minutes, or goes away and comes back.
2. Pain or discomfort in one or both arms, the back, neck, jaw or stomach.
3. Shortness of breath with or without chest discomfort.
4. Other signs such as breaking out in a cold sweat, nausea or lightheadedness.
5. As with men, 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.

If you have any of these signs, call 9-1-1 and get to a hospital right away."

I also read that women often get turned away from ER when they don't exhibit the more common chest pain symptoms. So have your most vocal and demanding friend or family member with you if you have to go to ER. :(

Tina, I just now saw this thread. Thanks for starting it. Friday night I was torn on what to do since we're 15 min. from the ER, and on a dirt road to boot.

Should I take him or should I call 911? BTW, we finally got 911, along with a new address, a few years ago. All of rural Oklahoma got 911. No more rural route addresses.

I made the decision to call 911, and although it took about 10-15 min. to get here, I'm glad I did. There was no way I was going to make DH walk because he would have to use the lungs and heart to do so. The EMT's were a lot faster in helping him than had he gone to an ER, IMO. Plus we got information immediately because of the heart scan they sent to the Heart Hospital. No telling what our local hospital, which is a good one, would have done with him. Keep him there or send to heart hospital?

911 if you have a distance to drive.

ALWAYS call 911 - first thing. The paramedics will be able to work with you even before you get to the hospital.

Got a call this morning from a good friend - her dad was taken to the hospital last night - heart attack - 5 blockages. They were able to open one area with the balloon, well actually of the blockages but only used a stent in one. Not sure why as I have only been able to communicate via text with my friend at this point. Her dad is a very sick man, in critical condition. He is the sweetest guy! He looks the picture of health although I do not know if he had any issues like cholesteral, hbp, etc.

I did go to the ER 2 years ago for dizzinesss/lightheadedness that I thought could be cardiac-related, and they saw me ASAP. Their policy is to do an electrocardiogram within 10 minutes.

I did have follow cardiac nuclear stress testing on an outpatient basis which was clear. It was just related to my vertigo.

Just received word that DH's aunt, who has been the "picture of health" for as long as I've known her, had a heart attack last night and is currently hospitalized. She's out of state, so we're waiting on more news from a family member.

Heart attacks are truly horrible, frightening things!

i worked in an er for about a year at one time early one sat morning, a gentleman called and said he had such a bad sinus headache he didn't think he could drive to the hospital would it be ok if he called an ambulance - the nurse insisted that he do that and took his address and also called the ambulance and yes, that man was having a heart attack and he passed away that evening.....