A heart attack (also known as a myocardial infarction) is the death of heart muscle from the sudden blockage of a coronary artery. Coronary arteries are blood vessels that supply the heart muscle with blood and oxygen. Blockage of a coronary artery deprives the heart muscle of blood and oxygen causing injury to the heart muscle. This blockage most commonly follows the rupture of a vulnerable atherosclerotic plaque, which is an unstable collection of fatty acids and white blood cells in the wall of an artery. If blood flow is not restored to the heart muscle and is left untreated for a sufficient period of time, irreversible death of the heart muscle will begin to occur. Classical symptoms of acute myocardial infarction include sudden chest pain (typically radiating to the left arm or left side of the neck), shortness of breath (commonly described as an elephant sitting on your chest), nausea, vomiting, palpitations, sweating, and anxiety. Women may experience fewer typical symptoms than men, most commonly shortness of breath, weakness, a feeling of indigestion, and fatigue. Approximately 1/4 of all myocardial infarctions are silent, without chest pain or other symptoms. Heart attacks are the leading cause of deaths for both men and women all over the world. More than 1.5 million Americans suffer a heart attack each year. About 1/3 of them die from the heart attack which is about 500,000 people. 

Important risk factors are: previous cardiovascular disease (such as angina, a previous heart attack or stroke), older age (especially men over 40 and women over 50), tobacco smoking, high blood levels of certain lipids (bad cholesterol) and low levels of high density lipoprotein (good cholesterol), diabetes, high blood pressure, obesity, heart failure, excessive alcohol consumption, the abuse of drugs, and chronic high stress levels. The American Heart Association recommends that heart attack prevention begin by age 20. This means assessing your risk factors and working to keep them low. For those over 40, or those with multiple risk factors, it’s important to calculate the risk of developing cardiovascular disease in the next 10 years. Many first-ever heart attacks are fatal or disabling, so prevention is critical. The sooner you begin comprehensive risk reduction, the longer and stronger your heart will beat. One reason is undeniably a lack of commitment to a heart-healthy lifestyle. Your lifestyle is not only your best defense against heart disease, it’s also your responsibility. By following these steps you can reduce all of the modifiable risk factors for heart disease and heart attacks including: Stop/Avoid smoking, choose good nutrition, reduce blood cholesterol (reduce trans/saturated fats), lower blood pressure, keep a healthy weight, reduce stress, manage diabetes, limit alcohol, and keep physically active for 30 minutes a day.

The Lehi Fire Department is situated in the northern most part of Utah County.  We currently have two fire stations that are manned 24 hours a day, seven days a week.  Each station has a paramedic response ambulance and fire suppression apparatus.

Our fire department leads the north county area with the capability of acquiring EKG tracings (12 Lead) of the heart during cardiac events which allow us to get our patients to definitive care more rapidly.  We also have two new pieces of firefighting equipment to respond more safely and efficiently.