SOUTH East residents are urged not to delay seeking medical treatment if they believe they may be having a heart attack.
This follows statistics showing people on average wait more than six hours to call triple zero.
Alarmingly, statistics also reveal 50pc of heart attack deaths occur at home.
Mount Gambier’s John Droppers is among those who have suffered a heart attack and did not seek immediate help.
Mr Droppers – who had a heart attack at a timber mill where he was working in 1986 – did not seek medical treatment until the following day.
“I was working in the mill when it happened, but I did not go and seek help. I even went to the football match the next day, but later went to hospital where I was told I had suffered a heart attack,” he explained.
“I took a whole day to seek help. When I was having a heart attack, it felt like someone was squeezing my chest.”
Mr Droppers was among aged care residents who attended a Heart Foundation information session at Resthaven in Mount Gambier last week.
The Heart Foundation held a number of information sessions across Mount Gambier on how to recognise the warning signs of a heart attack.
The sessions were funded by the Australian Government’s primary health network.
Heart Foundation’s Dr Sarah Borg – a public health medical registrar – said heart disease remained the biggest killer in Australia.
“It kills one Australian every 12 minutes and affects one in six Australians – five people die from the disease every day in South Australia,” Dr Borg said.
She called on people to seek immediate health treatment if they believed they or someone else was having a heart attack.
“After six hours, the damage to your heart is irreversible,” Dr Borg said.
“People are taking too long to call triple zero.”
She also warned the symptoms of heart attacks varied and “no two heart attacks were the same”.
“They are not all Hollywood-type heart attacks where people fall to the ground with chest pain – it can feel like indigestion,” Dr Borg explained.
“If you feel unusual for you, you need to call for help. Always call for help if you are not sure.
“If is not up to you to determine if you are having a heart attack, that decision is up to a health professional. It does not matter if it is a false alarm.”
Dr Borg said people who believed they were having a heart attack should stop and rest, speak to someone, call triple zero (000) and avoid driving a car.
“If you drive, you are a danger to yourself and others on the road,” the medical professional said.
Importantly, she revealed treatment started straight away by calling triple zero.
“You can leave all the decisions up to them,” Dr Borg said.
She said heart disease was caused by a slow build-up of fat or plaque in arteries.
People are encouraged to attend their general practitioner for regular health checks.
