What Happens in the Emergency Department?
Once you are in the ambulance or at one of Inova's four Emergency Departments, initial diagnostic tests are conducted to determine the presence of a heart attack or other heart problems. These include blood tests and electrocardiograms. Some heart attacks can be diagnosed immediately, and others require blood tests and EKGs to confirm heart damage over several hours. Therefore, you'll likely be held for observation until at least 12 to 24 hours have passed, while serial blood tests and electrocardiograms are analyzed to indicate a heart attack. Once a heart attack is confirmed, every attempt to salvage heart muscle and decrease the size of the injury will be done (click here for more information about angioplasties and bypass surgery).
Everyone who has had a heart attack is immediately admitted to a specialized critical care unit where nurses are experts in caring for you. Some individuals are admitted to the hospital because a heart attack is not yet confirmed, or because further diagnostic testing are needed. At times, individuals are monitored and released from the emergency room to home, after a heart attack has been ruled out. It is important for them to obtain follow-up with their personal physician.