“If you’re living in this area, central Island or north Island, the best time to have a heart attack is actually if you’re visiting Victoria,” he warned. “That’s when you get the standard of care, that’s when you’re going to go to the cath lab. Otherwise you’re like everybody else, you’re going to get inferior treatment.”
I don’t understand this and I had the same issue at a hospital in Portland, Oregon in January.
The closest hospital to me can diagnose the heart attack, which is easy enough, it’s a blood test to look at Troponin levels.
They can even do the angiogram to determine which blood vessel needs a stent.
But they don’t have the capability of doing the stent itself.
So when I was having what we thought were medication related complications, I went to that hospital in the middle of a snow and ice storm because it was closest.
I had the heart attack in the ER as the power went out and we switched over to generators.
They correctly diagnosed it and got me the angiogram, then I had to wait 2 days for an ambulance to be able to make it through the snow and ice to transport me to the “real” hospital where they could do the stent.
Night 1 - I wake up at 6 AM and am fiddling with my phone. Nurse comes in:
“Hey, were you asleep about an hour ago?”
“Yeah, why?”
“Your heart rate dropped to 40.”
“. . . Is that… bad? I don’t know these things.” Apparently, no, your heart rate is not supposed to be 40.
Night 2 - Same deal, nurse comes in.
“So your heart stopped for eight seconds.”
“Um… thank you? I’m not sure what you want me to do with that information.”
They got me to the real hospital that day, I had the stent, it’s all fine.