Know the signs of heart attack.
Typical signs for both men and women:
- Discomfort or pain in the center of the chest
- Discomfort in the arm(s), back, neck, jaw or stomach
- Difficulty breathing
- Heartburn, nausea, vomiting or abdominal pain
- Cold sweats or clammy skin
- Dizziness or light-headedness
- Pounding heart or change in rhythm
Signs more common for women (often without chest pain or discomfort)
- Milder symptoms
- Sudden onset of weakness, shortness of breath, fatigue, body aches or overall feeling of illness
Act quickly! If you have any of these symptoms, call 911. Acting quickly is crucial to save your life or that of a loved one.
We offer state-of-the-art, rapid assessment and treatment of potential heart attack 24 hours daily. Patients experiencing the early stages of heart attack are treated immediately to minimize or prevent heart attack.
Why choose El Camino Hospital?
El Camino Hospital follows national standards to rapidly assess and treat ischemic heart disease. Time is critical when it comes to chest pain. So we continue to push ourselves to streamline processes and enhance teamwork to deliver the very best care.
Time from arrival to treatment:
| National standards: |
Less than 90 minutes |
| El Camino Hospital Chest Pain Center: |
Less than 60 minutes |
At El Camino Hospital, the Chest Pain Center process starts from the moment a patient calls 911 and is transported to El Camino Hospital's emergency department.
When a patient’s ECG indicates that he or she has the most urgent kind of heart attack (100% blockage of a blood vessel to the heart) –called ST segment elevated myocardial infarction (STEMI) – arrives at El Camino Hospital's emergency department, he or she is rapidly assessed, given appropriate diagnostic tests and transported to the cardiac catheterization laboratory.
This systematic approach has resulted in a superior "time to treatment" during the critical early stages of a heart attack when treatments are most effective. The emergency department, patient transport services, cath lab teams, along with interventional cardiologists, all work together in a well-rehearsed process to achieve the best results for patients.
Our highly specialized Chest Pain Center Team monitors patients when it is not clear whether or not they are having a heart attack to ensure essential testing is completed and premature discharge is avoided.