What's the Best Treatment For a Heart Attack?

A heart attack is the common term for a cardiac infarction, the death of heart muscle cells due to an insufficient supply of oxygen-rich blood secondary to a blockage in the coronary artery. In the U.S., approximately 1.2 people a year experience a heart attack. About half those people die.

What's the best treatment for a heart attack? Prompt treatment: Medical experts say that early treatment not only limits the amount of permanent damage a heart attack can do to the cardiac muscle, but also saves lives.

Oxygen Therapy

Oxygen therapy can be initiated in the ambulance, before a patient arrives at the hospital. Breathing in a higher concentration of oxygen means that more oxygen will be circulating in the blood, compensating for the decreased amount of blood that flows through the partially occluded coronary artery.

Oxygen can be administered via a facial mask or a nasal cannula. 100 percent oxygen administered via a facemask is the method is most often used with patients suspected of having a heart attack..

Aspirin TherapyHeart attack victims are advised to take a single regular strength aspirin. Taking aspirin has been shown to decrease potential fatalities among heart attack victims by a factor of approximately 25 percent. Aspirin reduces the pain and inflammation caused by an enzyme called cyclooxygenase that's released by the damaged heart cells. Additionally, aspirin makes the blood less viscous and inhibits the formation of blood clots that can clog the arteries leading to the heart. Nitroglycerin Therapy

If the heart attack patient has a history of angina, he or she may have been prescribed nitroglycerin. It is appropriate to administer nitroglycerin if you suspect someone is having a heart attack: Nitroglycerin increases the flow of blood through the coronary arteries by reducing cardiac workload.

Pain Relief

Morphine is the analgesia of choice for heart attack victims. Often morphine will first be administered to heart attack victims while they're in the ambulance, in transit to the hospital.

Ambulance Transport

If you suspect someone is having a heart attack, never volunteer to drive him or her to a hospital. Instead call 911 and wait for an ambulance to arrive. Why? Because ambulances are staffed by paramedics who know the appropriate field treatment to administer to minimize the effects of the myocardial infarction and who know how to handle the situation should things suddenly take a turn for the worse. Additionally, paramedics can advise hospital staff of the seriousness of the situation so the victim will be seen and assessed by physicians right away.