When Connie H. of Circleville, Ohio, called Medical Guardian in August of 2014 to order a Home Guardian for her father, Russell, she was worried that he might not always be able to press the button in an emergency due to his failing health. Luckily, Life Safety Consultant, Benjamin Fish told Connie that Medical Guardian sells special fall detection pendants, which can trigger the call for help even if the person wearing the button is unable to do so.
Russell accepted the gift of a medical alert device from his daughter, even though she lived only 10 minutes away with her son. And it’s a good thing that he did because on June 29, 2015, 87-year-old Russell started feeling strange pangs in his chest. It was only 2:30 in the afternoon and his grandson was there visiting with him. Russell instructed his grandson to press the medical alert pendant to call for help.
When the emergency-trained operator got through to them, Russell’s grandson explained that his grandfather was experiencing heart trouble and needed EMTs sent to the house immediately. The operator obliged, contacting local emergency resources and sending an ambulance over to Russell’s house. She also made sure to mention that he had a lockbox by the front door so that they could get into the house and that Russell kept his medical information on his refrigerator, which would come in handy for the EMTs.
They were able to ambulance Russell to the hospital and avoid a major cardiovascular catastrophe that day.
“Strange” Signs of Heart Trouble
Heart disease is currently the number one killer among men and women here in the U.S., accounting for 40 percent of all deaths. People can be saved from heart episodes if there is an early intervention. Many patients, however, don’t recognize their early symptoms as being troublesome until it is too late.
Here are some of the “strange” signs of heart trouble from WebMD that can help you avoid a medical catastrophe in the future:
- Anxiety. Heart attack can cause intense anxiety or a fear of death. Heart attack survivors often talk about having experienced a sense of "impending doom."
- Chest discomfort. Pain in the chest is the classic symptom of heart attack, and "the number 1 symptom” that doctors usually look for. Heart-related chest pain is often centered under the breastbone, perhaps a little to the left of center. The pain has been likened to "an elephant sitting on the chest," but it can also be an uncomfortable sensation of pressure, squeezing, or fullness.
- Cough. Persistent coughing or wheezing can be a symptom of heart failure -- a result of fluid accumulation in the lungs. In some cases, people with heart failure cough up bloody phlegm.
- Dizziness. Heart attacks can cause lightheadedness and loss of consciousness. So can potentially dangerous heart rhythm abnormalities known as arrhythmias.
- Fatigue. Especially among women, unusual fatigue can occur during a heart attack as well as in the days and weeks leading up to one. And feeling tired all the time may be a symptom of heart failure.
To see the rest of the list of unusual signs of heart attack, visit WebMD.
