PCA-SHRM hosts heart attack and stroke meeting

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PCA-SHRM hosts heart attack and stroke meeting

Fri, 03/11/2022 - 01:02
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The Ponca City Area Society for Human Resource Management (PCA-SHRM) Board hosted Tracy Didlake, Clinical Resource Nurse at AllianceHealth, to provide details about the safety risks involved with heart attacks and strokes during their meeting at Pioneer Technology Center on Wednesday, March 9.

Strokes are a brain attack that occurs when blood vessels in the brain are blocked or burst. Strokes can lead to long-term disability and even death. Didlake presented information on how to react to strokes and what signs one must look out for. To aid in this presentation, Didlake shared the BE FAST acronym. BE FAST represents the following:

- Balance, loss of balance and/or dizziness

- Eyes, vision changes

- Face, facial drooping and/or severe headache

- Arms, weakness and/or numbness

- Speech, trouble speaking and/or confusion

- Time, the time to call 911 Strokes can occur at any age with 1 in 5 people who have had a stroke being under the age of 55. With the chance of stroke increasing as one gets older.

Race and gender are also indicators of stroke. For example, more women have strokes than men, with more women dying from strokes than from breast cancer every year. Those with a family history of strokes are also at higher risk.

Some manageable risk factors include high blood pressure, atrial fibrillation (A-fib), high cholesterol, smoking, diabetes, poor circulation, lack of physical activities, and obesity.

Didlake then moved on to the subject of heart attack early warning signs and prevention focusing on Early Heart Attack Care (EHAC).

About 750,000 people in the US have heart attacks each year, and of those, about 116,000 die. Many of those patients also experienced early symptoms.

Some early signs and symptoms that are a part of EHAC include the following:

- Feeling of fullness

- Pain that travels down one or both arms

- Jaw pain

- Excessive fatigue or weakness

- Anxiety

- Nausea or vomiting

- Back pain

- Shortness of breath

- Chest pressure, squeezing, aching or burning

Some risk factors for heart attack include high blood pressure; overweight or obesity; sedentary lifestyle; using tobacco products; metabolic disease, diabetes or other illnesses; a family history of cardiovascular disease. For women, it can also include birth control pills, a history of pre-eclampsia, gestational diabetes, or having a low birth weight baby.

Men normally feel pain and numbness in the left arm or side of the chest. Women often have these symptoms on the right side. Women may also experience complete exhaustion, drained, dizzy or nauseous.

Women may feel upper back pain that travel up into their jaw, and may think their stomach pain is the flu, heartburn or an ulcer.

There are also atypical presentations. This can includes a sharp or “knife-like” pain that occurs with coughing or breathing. Pain that spreads above the jawbone or into the lower body, as well as difficult or labored breathing.

Didlake also shared the EHAC Pledge as well. This pledge is as follows:

“I understand that heart attacks have beginnings that may include chest discomfort, shortness of breath, sweating, shoulder and/or arm pain, and weakness. These may occur hours or weeks before the actual heart attack. I solemnly pledge that if it happens to me or anyone I know, I will call 9-1-1 or activate our Emergency Medical Services.”

To learn more about strokes, you can text STROKE to 80395 or visit strokeawareness.com. For heart attacks, more information can be found at dha.acc.org.