On the golf course, slow play is rude. In life, it could be deadly.
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By Jeffrey Meyers, jmeyers@stph.org
Slow play: When it comes to golfing pet peeves, it’s right up there with backswing talkers and empty ball cleaners.
That’s just as true for recreational hackers as it is for those who think they’re the second coming of Dustin Johnson.
When it comes to chest pain, however, slow play is more than a mere annoyance. It can be downright deadly.
That’s because with heart attacks, timing is everything – or, as the saying in cardiology circles goes, “time is muscle.”
Repeated studies over the years have shown that the longer you wait to seek treatment for chest pain, the greater the chance it could result in a debilitating or even fatal outcome.
Take the case of Gary Kern, a 65-year-old Lacombe resident who woke up in the middle of the night in May with tightness in his chest. “Nothing major,” he said. “I could actually get up and move around the house.”
Still, he was unnerved by it – but he was even more unnerved by the idea of going to the hospital in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic. His wife, Anna, wisely called 911, but when paramedics were unable to say conclusively whether or not he was having a heart attack, Kern decided to stay home, even signing a form refusing transport to the hospital.
“I kind of just tried to fight through it, you might say,” Kern said.
That’s when Anna stepped in, essentially ordering him into the ambulance.
That decision very well may have saved Kern’s life. The doctors at St. Tammany Health System’s Covington hospital – which has earned Chest Pain Accreditation by the American College of Cardiology (ACC) Accreditation Services – found 100% blockage in one of the two major arteries providing blood to Gary’s heart. The other had 40% blockage.
He was rushed to the hospital’s Cath Lab procedural room, where doctors inserted a stent to keep his blocked artery open.
“I was going down the hall, they were pushing me to the room where they do the stents and everything, and I made the comment, ‘I don’t think I’m having a heart attack,’” Gary remembered with a chuckle. “And (the doctor) said, ‘Boy, you’re living in denial.’”
The moral here is simple: If you think you’re having a heart attack, don’t ignore the symptoms. Call 911, and fast.
Although you might be tempted to drive yourself to the hospital, resist that temptation. You’ll be putting yourself and others in danger should your condition worsen while you’re behind the wheel. And while you might have somebody in the house who can drive you, they don’t have the life-saving equipment that EMTs have.
Even if you’re not having chest pains, there are things you can do to protect yourself from heart attacks. Adopt a healthier diet. Walk instead of using a golf cart. If you’re a smoker, quit. See your doctor annually, especially if you have a family history of heart disease.
And whatever you do, don’t be a slow-player – on the golf course or with regard to chest pain.
Jeffrey Meyers is the chest pain accreditation coordinator at St. Tammany Health System in Covington.
Read more about Gary Kern’s story at http://www.stph.org/News/covid-fears-costing-lives-08142020.