Why heart victims fail to seek help

9:09am Monday 11th August 2008

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By Barry Nelson »

PEOPLE in the North-East take heart attack symptoms more seriously in others than themselves, in a dangerous case of double standards, according to a survey.

The British Heart Foundation (BHF) release the results on Heart Attack Awareness Day today.

Even though more than half of people (51 per cent) would do the right thing by telling relatives to call 999 if they had unusual chest pain, the most common symptom of a heart attack.

A staggering two thirds of people (66 per cent) would put their own lives at risk by not calling 999 first if they experienced the same symptoms.

The survey also shows that a frightening 26 per cent would potentially waste valuable time by taking their partners to the hospital themselves instead of calling 999, and ten per cent of people would risk their parent’s health by the same measure.

Every year, almost a quarter of a million people suffer a heart attack, a third of whom die before reaching hospital – often because they don’t seek medical help in time – so it is crucial that people recognise the symptoms and know to call 999 if experiencing them.

Symptoms can vary from one person to another but the most common include: ● A pain in the centre of the chest ● A pain which can spread to the arms, neck and jaw ● Feeling sick or sweaty ● Having central chest pain and/or feeling short of breath.

Some people may also experience: ● A dull pain, ache or “heavy” feeling in the chest ● A mild discomfort in the chest that makes the sufferer feel generally unwell ● A pain in the chest that can spread to the back or stomach ● Chest pain that feels like a bad episode of indigestion, or feeling light-headed or dizzy as well as having chest pain.

Women are more likely to experience these symptoms.

The main reasons people in the North- East put off calling 999 include not wanting to waste the time of emergency services (57 per cent), doubting their symptoms are serious enough (48 per cent), fear of embarrassment (38 per cent) and preferring to wait and see if it gets better (32 per cent).