DO you know the warning signs of a heart attack?<\/p>\n
A new joint project from the Heart Foundation, Ambulance Victoria, Monash University, and the Victorian Government has been designed to increase education around heart health for people over the aged of forty-five.<\/p>\n
The effort is known as Heart Matters and Ambulance Victoria paramedic Georgie Redmond is heading program in Greater Bendigo.<\/p>\n
\u201cMonash University and the Heart Foundation have highlighted Bendigo to be at a high risk of heart disease and heart attacks,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019ve pointed out that one in four people don\u2019t know a single heart attack warning sign.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ms Redmond is aiming to deliver free education sessions to community groups and businesses across the region, while also reminding people when to call an ambulance.<\/p>\n
\u201cSome people don\u2019t want to ring an ambulance because they don\u2019t think that chest pain is an emergency,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cBendigo has quite a low rate of calling an ambulance and a high rate of heart disease, so it\u2019s a really high risk.\u201d<\/p>\n
She said many people feel like they\u2019re wasting paramedics\u2019 time by calling triple zero, and some messaging during the COVID-19 pandemic about only calling an ambulance in an emergency has caused people to disregard the seriousness of chest pain.<\/p>\n
\u201cChest pain is a medical emergency,\u201d Ms Redmond said. \u201cYou\u2019ve got to call us, we don\u2019t mind. Ring us, if we turn up and it\u2019s not anything than that\u2019s great.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople are hesitant to ring because they think they\u2019re wasting our time, but it\u2019s what we do.\u201d<\/p>\n