Tanner Health System has three 24-hour emergency departments located at Tanner Medical Center/Carrollton, Tanner Medical Center/Villa Rica and Higgins General Hospital in Bremen.

The physicians and nurses at Tanner’s emergency departments are trained to “think cardiac,” and are highly skilled in advanced cardiac life support (ACLS) and trauma nurse core curriculum (TNCC) to better prepare them to handle cardiac emergencies. Each emergency department is prepared to evaluate and treat patients presenting with symptoms related to cardiovascular disease, including heart attacks, angina, arrhythmia and heart failure.

A visitor experiencing a heart attack and arriving at any of Tanner’s 24-hour emergency departments will activate Tanner’s Heart Alert System. If at Tanner Medical Center/Villa Rica or Higgins General Hospital in Bremen, the patient will immediately be transferred to Tanner Medical Center/Carrollton where specially-trained and qualified physicians, nurses and technologists will oversee their care.

The name of the game is time. It’s essential that blood flow be restored to the heart as quickly as possible. In the past, patients had to be transported to hospitals in Atlanta for this procedure, losing valuable minutes as their hearts deteriorated without oxygen. Now, angioplasty is available much closer to home for west Georgia residents. According to the American College of Cardiology (ACC), a patient should be able to undergo an angioplasty procedure within at least 90 minutes of arriving at the hospital. The national average time from when a patient enters the hospital doors to undergoing the procedure during a heart attack is estimated at 120 minutes; at Tanner Medical Center/Carrollton, the average time is less than ACC guidelines and much better than the national average.

Chest pain is a major symptom of a heart attack. However, some people may have little or no chest pain, especially the elderly and those with diabetes. This is called a silent heart attack.

The pain may be felt in only one part of the body or move from your chest to your arms, shoulder, neck, teeth, jaw, belly area, or back.

The pain can be severe or mild. It can feel like:

• Squeezing or heavy pressure
• A tight band around the chest
• Something heavy sitting on your chest
• Bad indigestion

Pain usually lasts longer than 20 minutes. Discontinuing physical activity and taking a medicine called nitroglycerine do not completely relieve the pain of a heart attack.

Other symptoms of a heart attack include:

• Shortness of breath
• Nausea or vomiting
• Anxiety
• Cough
• Fainting
• Lightheadedness - dizziness
• Palpitations (feeling like your heart is beating too fast)
• Sweating, which may be extreme

If you experience any of the above symptoms, call 911 or report to the nearest emergency room immediately.