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Heart attack patients don’t get to hospital fast enough, contributing to deaths

TO: Writers, editors, and broadcasters

FROM: National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) American Heart Association

RE: News conference to announce

• NHLBI and the American Heart Association’s new effort to enlist physicians’ help in educating patients about heart attack risk and survival
• Act in Time to Heart Attack Signs, a major new heart attack education campaign for the public and health professionals

WHEN: September 10, 2001, 11:00 a.m.

WHERE: Lisagor Room, National Press Club, 529 14th St., N.W., Washington, D.C.
(Please note: room will open at 10:30 a.m.)

WHY: Despite great progress in the treatment of heart attack, only 1 in 5 patients gets to the hospital emergency department within 1 hour of when symptoms begin. This is the best time to benefit from clot-busting medication and other artery-opening treatments. Most heart attack victims wait between 2 and 4 hours before seeking help. Patient delay in seeking medical treatment is a major factor in the nearly half million heart attack deaths in the U.S. each year.

September 11 (9/11) is National 9-1-1 Day. Calling 9-1-1 fast saves lives and heart muscle.

WHO: Claude Lenfant, M.D., Director, NHLBI
David Faxon, M.D., President, American Heart Association
Bruce MacLeod, M.D., Chairman, Department of Emergency Medicine, Mercy Hospital of Pittsburgh Bonnie Brown, heart attack survivor, Baltimore, Maryland

Broadcast Note:
B-roll and soundbites on the new heart attack campaign will be fed September 10, 2:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. EDT on (C-Band) Telstar 6, Transp. 12, DL 3940, Audio 6.2/6.8 and on September 11, 10:30 a.m. - 11:00 a.m. EDT on (C-Band)Telstar 6, Transp. 9, DL 3880, Audio 6.2/6.8.

On September 10 from 12:30 to 2:30, Dr. David Faxon will be available for radio interviews and Dr. James Atkins, Medical Director of Emergency Medicine Education at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, will be available for satellite television interviews. To book an interview with Dr. Faxon or Dr. Atkins, call Colleen Coffey of News Broadcast Network at 1-800-920-6397.

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