Walter Davis
New heart attack alert system puts time back on patients' side
Thursday, July 30, 2009, was a typical day at Walt's Automotive in Callahan, Fla. Walter Davis had been working on cars for most of the morning until around 1 p.m., when he started experiencing severe chest pains while under the hood of car. He didn't realize that his symptoms were the onset of a heart attack.
"I got to feeling real bad so I went in the office and sat down and started sweating a lot," Davis said.
He started having regular chest pains and difficulty sleeping three days prior. He described the pain as a recurring muscle pull. The night before he was rushed to Shands Jacksonville, he slept in an upright position at the dining room table because he could not lay flat in bed due to severe back pain.
The day Walter had the heart attack, his wife, Amy, rushed him to a nearby fire station where the paramedics examined him.
"When I got in the ambulance, they asked me where I wanted to go and I told them ‘get me to Shands,'" the 42-year-old father and grandfather said.
Lyndon Box, MD, a University of Florida College of Medicine–Jacksonville assistant professor of cardiology, performed an emergency heart catheterization on Davis.
The lifesaving procedure
During the procedure, a small tube was inserted into the main artery of Davis' leg and then directed to the arteries of the heart. Once the catheter was positioned in the heart, an X-ray was taken to find the blocked artery. When the blocked artery was located, a tiny wire not much thicker than a millimeter was inserted through the tube and across the blockage. After that, a stent (metal mesh) was put in to keep the artery open.
This procedure is done while the patient is awake. The only discomfort is from the injection of lidocaine (numbing medication) and the initial puncture to get the sheath into the artery. After that, the patient may have some pain from the removal of the blockage, but the procedure itself does not require anesthesia or a large incision.
"In Mr. Davis' case, we were able to open the artery very quickly, and it is likely that he will only have minor damage to his heart," Box said, who credits the quick turnaround time for saving Davis' life.
It took less than 45 minutes from the time he arrived at the hospital until the artery was open.
"What's even more impressive was that from the time he was picked up by the ambulance until the artery was opened was less than 90 minutes, which includes the time it took the ambulance to arrive from Nassau County," Box said.
On Aug. 1, 2009, Box and a team of UF physicians implemented an emergency response system called ST Elevation Myorcardial Infarction Alert, or STEMI-Alert. The STEMI-Alert system enables paramedics to notify physicians in the Emergency Department at Shands Jacksonville that a heart attack patient will be arriving. When the patient arrives, the cardiac catheterization team is already assembled and ready for the procedure.
"The application of this approach to STEMI patients has been long overdue, but now we are seeing the direct benefits of it," Box said. "Patients' chances of survival are directly related to the time it takes to open the artery."
The place to turn
Following the procedure, Davis spent three days at Shands Jacksonville. He said he didn't think he would experience a heart attack at age 42, even though he lost his father in March 2009 to a massive heart attack and his mother 15 years ago to a heart attack as well.
"I went to the doctor six months earlier and I didn't have high cholesterol, high blood pressure or anything like that, but since the procedure I feel better than I have in years," Davis said.
Box said that because all patients are different, they should monitor their blood pressure, cholesterol and exercise on a regular basis.
"Major heart attacks like the one Mr. Davis was having, are the type that can kill you quickly," Box said. "The tricky part is that it requires an electrocardiogram (a test that measures the electrical activity of heartbeats) and a physician evaluation to really know if the symptoms are something minor or a potential killer. Fortunately, Mr. Davis did the right thing and sought emergency assistance."
Common symptoms of a heart attack include:
- Discomfort in the middle of the chest that lasts longer than a few minutes, or that comes and goes.
- Discomfort in other areas of the body such as the arms, back, neck, jaw or stomach.
- Shortness of breath with or without chest discomfort.
- Cold sweats, nausea or lightheadedness.
Since the incident, Davis quit smoking, changed his diet and continues his passion of repairing cars. He said choosing Shands Jacksonville for his care was easy thanks to what he had seen and heard in the community.
"I had always seen the commercials on TV and that helped me decide where I wanted to go for care," Davis said. "I am pleased with the care and have no complaints at all."
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