Don't wait: Kiwis with heart symptoms urged to go to ED, despite flu outbreak

Cardiac patients are delaying critical treatment – and putting themselves at risk – fearing lengthy waits at emergency departments overwhelmed by the flu.

The Cardiac and Respiratory Foundation NZ is urging people with chest pain or other heart attack symptoms not to delay seeing a doctor and to seek urgent medical help immediately.

Foundation Chief Executive Ms Letitia Harding says even a short delay in seeking help for heart symptoms can have serious, lasting consequences.

“In one case, we heard of a patient in their sixties who had chest pain for several days before seeking medical attention.

“By the time they were seen, there was major, irreversible damage to the heart – damage that timely treatment could have prevented or significantly limited.”

If people are arriving at ED with cardiac symptoms, they will be treated urgently – even with the flu pressure on hospitals right now, Ms Harding says.

Every hour that treatment is delayed, the risk of more heart damage increases, she says.

“This is exactly the outcome we're desperate to avoid, and it's happening because people are, understandably, weighing their chest pain against headlines about how dire ED is at the moment.”

The Foundation is urging anyone experiencing the following symptoms to call 111 or go to their nearest ED immediately:

• Chest pain, pressure, tightness, or discomfort – even if it comes and goes
• Pain spreading to the arm, jaw, neck, or back
• Shortness of breath
• Nausea, sweating, or light-headedness alongside chest discomfort

“Symptoms lasting more than ten minutes, or that are severe, require urgent medical attention,” Ms Harding says.

“Anyone who has symptoms of a heart attack, or is with someone who does, should call 111.”