Heart Care

Chest Pain CenterPCI Accredited certification badge

If you or someone you know is having chest discomfort, call 9-1-1 and get to a hospital immediately.

Frederick Health Hospital is accredited as a Chest Pain Center with Primary Percutaneous Coronary Intervention (PCI) by the American College of Cardiology (ACC). Percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), also known as coronary angioplasty, is a non-surgical procedure that opens narrowed or blocked coronary arteries with a balloon to relieve symptoms of heart disease or reduce heart damage during or after a heart attack.

Achieving this accreditation means that we offer PCI 24/7, every day of the year; and that our care to patients with heart attack symptoms meet and exceed the high standards of the ACC. In order to maintain this outstanding achievement, Frederick Health Hospital has an organized team of medical professionals and administrative staff that earnestly supports efforts leading to better patient care, better patient education, and improved patient outcomes for those with symptoms of heart attack.

Heart Attack Facts and Treatment

Heart attacks are the leading cause of death in the United States, with more than 600,000 deaths annually from heart disease and more than 5 million visits to hospital emergency rooms due to chest discomfort. One in three adults in the United States suffers from a form of coronary heart disease.

Women’s heart issues are on the rise. Coronary heart disease is the number one single killer of women over the age of 25. In addition, heart disease rates in post menopausal women are two to three times higher than in pre-menopausal women of the same age.

Having heart trouble? Here’s what to do.

If you think you’re having a heart attack, don’t wait. Know the signs and symptoms of heart trouble. If you experience any of the following symptoms, call 9-1-1 and proceed to the closest emergency room:

  • Pressure, fullness, squeezing pain in the center of the chest, spreading to the neck, shoulder or jaw
  • Chest discomfort with lightheadedness, fainting, sweating, nausea, or shortness of breath
  • Upper abdominal pressure or discomfort
  • Lower chest discomfort
  • Back pain
  • Unusual fatigue
  • Unusual shortness of breath
  • Dizziness
  • Nausea

Keep in mind that for women, the symptoms are just as dire, but often much more subtle (and easier to ignore):

  • Chest discomfort – often described as pressure rather than acute pain in women
  • Discomfort in other parts of the body – one or both arms, the back, jaw, or stomach
  • Shortness of breath – with or without chest discomfort
  • Cold sweat, nausea, or lightheadedness

For a printable brochure on Early Heart Attack Care, click HERE.
For a printable brochure on Early Heart Attack Care in Spanish, Click HERE

Early Heart Attack Care (or EHAC) education teaches you to recognize the early signs and symptoms of a heart attack. Why? We want you to become an active bystander so you can save a life - even if it’s yours.

• About 750,000 people in the U.S. have heart attacks each year. Of those, about 116,000 die.

• Many of these patients experienced early symptoms.

Someone might have one or more of these common symptoms. When they start, they can be mild or come and go. Over time, the symptoms and pain become more intense. Stay alert and always pay attention to chest pressure.