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Acute Myocardial Infarction essay

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Fundamentals of a Heart Attack
Holli Blohm
Instructor Lynette Love

Introduction Heart attacks , we have all seen them played out on our favorite drama shows but these shows do not address the real severity of an actual heart attack despite the great acting skills portrayed . A heart attack can also be known as a myocardial infarction (MI), acute myocardial infarction (AMI), acute coronary syndrome, coronary thrombosis, or coronary occlusion, either way it is not good news. Over 1.2 million people in American have heart attacks with many of them resulting in death (Heart attack, 2011). A heart attack is a serious life threatening condition that needs to be treated quickly.
Risk factors & Etiology
One of the main causes of a MI …show more content…

Expected Course
When someone is possibly having a heart attack they should seek medical help immediately. They should call 9-1-1 and wait for paramedics to arrive. The patient should take their nitroglycerin and chew an aspirin if it is prescribed by a physician or a paramedic. Aspirin in the event of a heart attack will help the clot from forming more (Heart attack, 2011). If a patient is unconscious and it is suspected they are experiencing a heart attack bystanders should begin CPR until help arrives (Symptoms, 2013). Once at the hospital tests will be done to rule out other chest pain related causes. The first test that will be done is an Electrocardiogram or an EKG, which records the hearts electrical activity. Damaged heart cells are not able to produce electrical impulses which will produce abnormal EKG results. Elevations in the ST waves on an EKG are classified STEMI and are present in over ninety percent of myocardial infarctions who had a complete occlusion to an artery (Cardiac Emergencies, n.d.). NSTEMI is where there is no elevation of the ST wave and is indicative that a full occlusion has not occurred (Cardiac Emergencies, n.d.). Blood tests will be done to assess troponin I, troponin T, creatine kinase (CK) and myoglobin which are classified as cardiac serum markers (Cardiac Emergencies, n.d.).

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