Pharmacists Join Heart Campaign
6 May 2012
Pharmacists across Australia this week are helping to raise public awareness of heart attack warning signs by taking part in Heart Week (6-12 May) activities, particularly the new Heart Foundation program ‘Will you recognise your heart attack?’
Participating pharmacists will have a range of materials available, and Self Care pharmacies will have the new ‘Warning Signs of Heart Attack’ fact card to distribute to customers.
The National Heart Foundation of Australia recommends that its action plan and fact sheet, along with education and counselling, be given to coronary heart disease patients before discharge from hospital, or during cardiac rehabilitation and that pharmacists also distribute them.
An Australian dies of a heart attack every 53 minutes and more than 50% of people who die of a heart attack don’t make it to hospital. The Heart Foundation says too many people delay calling triple zero (000).
Acting President of the PSA, Dr Claire O’Reilly, said the Heart Foundation’s advice was anyone who thought they could be having a heart attack should call triple zero.
“Some of the reasons given for not calling triple-0 include ignoring warning signs or waiting for them to go away, not recognising the symptoms of heart attack and not wanting to bother the ambulance service having other people to worry about them,” Dr O’Reilly said.
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