MILITARY DEPLOYMENT: SOUTH KOREA

A couple pix from my recent deployment to South Korea for a training evolution with PSU 313, a Coast Guard Port Security Unit.

Security check point, Exercise Foal Eagle 2013, Pohang, South Korea. USCG Port Security Unit (PSU) 313 and Republic of Korea (ROK) Marines worked together to provide shore-side and water-side security for the duration of the exercise. — in Pohang, Gyeongsangbuk-do.

A botanical garden on the Republic of Korea (ROK) Marine's military base in Pohang, South Korea. There were several gardens throughout the base... pretty awesome!! A nice escape. — in Pohang, Gyeongsangbuk-do.

Prevention Through Education

"An ounce of prevention is worth
a pound of cure." --Benjamin Franklin 

While there is undeniable truth in Franklin's quote, most Americans do not make healthy living a priority until they have a brush with death that reminds them how fragile life can be. Don't wait for a heart attack to strike you or someone you love, make the change today. Save your own life, before it's too late.

According the American Heart Association, "... heart attack prevention should begin by age 20... many first-ever heart attacks are fatal, so prevention is critical... your lifestyle is not only your best defense against heart disease, it's your responsibility."

Ok. So what can you do today? Right NOW?

Use the acronym ACES to help guide your pursuit of heart health:

1. ASSESS- Examine family history & current lifestyle habits to evaluate your risk for heart health problems in the future.
   
2. CHANGE- Incorporate small, daily changes to improve diet/exercise habits, decrease risk for heart disease, & improve overall health.
   
3. EVALUATE- Set personal wellness goals to determine if your lifestyle changes are effectively producing the desired result.
   
4. SAVE- Along with friends and family, develop an emergency action plan in case you or a loved one has a heart attack & needs help.

Assess: High blood pressure, diabetes, excess weight, family history, smoking, high cholesterol, older age, hormone replacement therapy, physical inactivity, gender (male), race (minorities) are all factors that increase chance of heart attack. More than one risk factor further elevates heart attack potential.

Change: Stop smoking/using tobacco, eat a heart-healthy diet, exercise at least 30 minutes a day, maintain a healthy weight, control blood pressure & cholesterol, control blood sugar, limit alcohol intake, and taking aspirin as advised are all effective steps to decrease risk of a heart attack.

Evaluate: See your doctor for regularly, monitor blood pressure/cholesterol/blood sugar levels, have a diabetes screening. According to the Mayo Clinic: Reducing your weight by just 10% can decrease blood pressure, lower your cholesterol & reduce risk of diabetes."

Save: Know how to recognize heart attack symptoms and how to respond when you or someone you know suffers a heart attack. Every minute without treatment, chances of survival decrease by 10%. By 4-6 minutes brain damage & death occur. After 10 minutes without treatment, resuscitation is rarely successful.

Watch the American Heart Association's video below about "Life's Simple 7."
Potentially life-saving steps to help you live a longer, stronger life. 

 

Click here for your free, online heart health assessment
by the American Heart Association. 

Time is Ticking

It’s 11pm Friday night. You are at home with your 33-year old
girlfriend of 10 years. She starts complaining of intense indigestion and heartburn, and mentions that the pizza she had earlier must not have agreed with her. You give her some antacids to settle her stomach and she walks to the bedroom to lie down.

Some time passes and you see her dart into the bathroom followed by sounds of vomiting. You rush in to see if you can help, but she asks to be left alone.

She returns to the bedroom a few minutes later and you follow, hoping to comfort her. You stroke her back as she tries to rest and you notice her body is in a cold sweat.

She asks to be left alone again, hoping to fall asleep as her symptoms subside- so you return to the living room. A short time later you see her sprint to the bathroom a 2^nd time, clutching her mouth and vomiting profusely. You decide to give her some privacy, like she asked.

A few minutes pass and you hear nothing from the bathroom. Silence.

Concerned, you call her name as you walk toward the bathroom. You push open the door and see the love of your life slumped against the wall beside the toilet… unresponsive… barely breathing.

What do you do? What is happening? Your heart and your mind are racing as you scream her name and search for signs of life. You know time is ticking and scramble for the phone to call 911.

The events above describe the last few hours of my sister Heidi’s

life and her boyfriend’s attempts to save her in her final moments. There was nothing he could do. Heidi had suffered a massive heart attack at the young age of 33.

Paramedics worked on Heidi for half an hour on the bathroom floor, shocking her chest over and over and over again. They continued life-saving efforts in the ambulance enroute to the hospital.

At the emergency room, doctors worked for nearly an hour to try to save Heidi, but nothing could be done. Her heart never responded.

So what would YOU do in this situation? Do you know how to respond? Do you know how to best help a person in showing symptoms of a heart attack?

((Click photos above to view a video memorial of Heidi's life))

According to the Mayo Clinic if you or someone else may be having a heart attack:

• Call 911- Don't tough out the symptoms of a heart attack for more than five minutes. If you don't have access to emergency medical services, have a neighbor or a friend drive you to the nearest hospital. Drive yourself only as a last resort, if there are absolutely no other options, and realize that it places you and others at risk when you drive under these circumstances.

• Chew or swallow an aspirin- Unless you're allergic to aspirin or have been told by your doctor never to take aspirin. But seek emergency help first, such as calling 911.

• Begin CPR if the person is unconscious- If you're with a person who might be having a heart attack and he or she is unconscious, tell the 911 dispatcher. You may be advised to begin cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). If you haven't received CPR training, doctors recommend you skip mouth-to-mouth rescue breathing and perform only chest compressions (about 100 per minute).

Watch this tutorial about Continuous Chest Compression CPR.
This six minute video might help you save a life!

TEST YOUR SKILLS: Click here for a quiz to test how much you know
about heart attack symptoms & treatment
===========================================================================================
Click the link below for the first post of this three-part series:
Symptoms Save Lives
Learn to recognize heart attack symptoms & how they differ in women
===========================================================================================
 

Symptoms Save Lives

On March 9, 2013, my 33-year old sister collapsed in her home and died suddenly of a heart attack. She had no known pre-existing conditions and cardiovascular diseases do not run in our family.  Needless to say it was shocking and devastating to all who knew and loved her.

As painful and traumatic as this nightmare has been, I believe that in times of tragedy we can choose to feel helpless and defeated or we can seek opportunities to learn and grow and do better for the future. While my soul is still weeping, I am determined to raise awareness about this silent killer. If our story can help just one person in the future, then my sister's death was not in vain.

One of the most valuable lessons that I have learned is how vastly different heart attack symptoms can be for women versus men. Everyone expects common symptoms such as crushing chest pain that radiates down the left arm. However, heart attack symptoms for females can vary significantly so it is critically important that women recognize these symptoms early and call for help immediately.

“Although men and women can experience chest pressure that feels like an elephant sitting across the chest, women can experience a heart attack without chest pressure, ” said Nieca Goldberg, M.D., medical director for the Joan H. Tisch Center for Women's Health at NYU’s Langone Medical Center.

According to the American Heart Association symptoms of a heart attack may include: shortness of breath, fatigue, nausea, cold sweats, vomiting, dizziness, back/jaw/neck pain, shortness of breath, and/or fatigue.
 
No two heart attacks are the same. Help raise awareness. Symptoms CAN save lives.

Click for news coverage from CBS Evening News about heart attack symptoms in women 

Stay tuned for follow-up posts with tips on how to help someone who shows
heart attack symptoms or is in cardiac arrest.
Every minute matters.
===========================================================================================
Click here for the 3rd part of this 3-part series:
Prevention Through Education
Learn what do to if you see someone having a heart attack
===========================================================================================