Chest Pain Awareness

Each of our emergency rooms at Highpoint Health with Ascension Saint Thomas has received chest pain accreditation from the American College of Cardiology, while the emergency room at Highpoint Health - Sumner has achieved chest pain accreditation with primary percutaneous coronary intervention.

Having Chest Pain & Symptoms? Call 911 - We'll bring Emergency Services to your home!

Heart Attack Signs & Symptoms

Heart attacks have beginnings. These beginnings occur in more than 50% of patients. Most importantly, if recognized in time, these “beginnings” can be treated before the heart is damaged!

Watch an animation of a heart attack from the American Heart Association.

Alarming Statistics

• • • Heart disease causes approximately 1 of 4 deaths in the United States.
    • About 50% of sudden cardiac deaths occur outside a hospital. This suggests that many people don’t act on early warning signs.
    • Survey results show that only 27% of the respondents were aware of all major symptoms and knew to call 911.

By sharing Early Heart Attack Education (EHAC), we can change these sobering statistics!

Early Signs of a Heart Attack

Early signs and heart attack symptoms can begin hours or days before a heart attack. You may or may not experience any or all of these symptoms.

Mild chest symptoms that may come and go until finally becoming constant and severe include:

• • • Pressure
    • Burning
    • Aching
    • Tightness
    • Nausea
    • Pain that travels down one or both arms
    • Jaw pain
    • Fatigue
    • Anxiety
    • Chest pressure, squeezing or discomfort
    • Back pain
    • Shortness of breath
    • Feeling of fullness
    • Sleep disturbances including bouts of insomnia or trouble either getting to sleep or staying asleep
    • Indigestion

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

Heart Attack Symptoms in Women

According to the American Heart Association, heart disease is the number 1 killer of women. 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. Other symptoms include:

• • • 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.
    • Pain or discomfort in one or both arms, the back, neck, jaw or stomach.
    • Shortness of breath with or without chest discomfort.
    • Other signs such as breaking out in a cold sweat, nausea or lightheadedness.

If you experience one or more of these symptoms, you owe it to yourself to get these symptoms checked out immediately at the emergency room nearest you.

How can I help to avoid a heart attack?

• • • Don’t smoke, and avoid second-hand smoke.
    • Treat high blood pressure if you have it.
    • Eat foods that are low in saturated fat, trans fat, sodium (salt) and added sugars..
    • Be physically active.
    • Reach and maintain a healthy weight.
    • Control your blood sugar if you have diabetes.
    • Get regular medical check-ups.
    • Take medicine as prescribed.

Survive, Don’t Drive – Call 911.

To learn how to perform hands-only CPR, watch the following video.

To find how Sumner County health standards rank compared to other counties in Tennessee, visit the County Health Rankings.