Stepfather taken to hospital with possible heart attack - what to expect next?

[VelvetJacket]

My stepfather was digging outside and had chest pains, feeling sick etc. Ambulance men just came and did some kind of monitorring, saying it had an abnormality and taken him in to hospital. My mum is with him. What will they do once he is at hospital and how long before there will be some news?

If it is a heart attack they will aim to treat ASAP, but it might take a while for your mum to get in touch, as she will be with him, and most likely have to go outside to use a mobile and get in touch with you.
They will diagnose what is wrong on the basis of his ECG reading and blood tests, and then treat whatever is needing to be treated.

Thanks mellen.

There is some more information here

Thanks that was useful. I guess he will be in for a while they do all these tests? They are due to travel home on Tues, they doný live in the UK.

Hope I hear soon how serious it is. My mum is a total stresshead, always going on about what he eats as his father died of a heart attack.

The initial tests wont take long at all - the aim is to get to treatment as soon as possible (eg 90 min targets for time to emergency angioplasty, far less for streptokinase). If he has had a heart attack he will be in hospital for about a few days to a week, if he hasnt then they will treat whatever has caused his symptoms and that might need more investigations to determine.

Hopefully you get some actual news soon.

Thanks again, phone just went but it was diy shop about some paint. I had no idea about the paint just blathered away and wanted her to hang up. I'm a bit of a wreck now but would have been a bit early to expect news realistically.

Home alone with a two year old, who is obviously oblivious. And who needs lunch and a nap.

He's not a UK resident but I guess in an emergency they would still treat him?

Yes, velvet, they will treat him. Don't worry about that.

They will treat. Depending on the circumstances there might be some attempt to seek payment at a later stage, but he wont be handing over a credit card at the A+E reception.

He has health insurance through his work, I'd expect they'd want to re-pat him when they can. God knows what they will do with their car as they drove all the way here.

Another phonecall but just my brother looking for news. Wish I could just fast forward through today.

Ds watching cbbies eating chocolate mini milk on my lap.

ecg is clear and waiting for blood tests results. Will keep him in tonight to do more blood tests this evening. Mum said he looks better.

My mum had a suspected heart attack. They got her stable and comfortable and then had to wait for 12 hours after the incident to do a blood test to confirm whether or not she had had a heart attack. She hadn't but was kept in for a few days to be monitored. Hope he is ok.

My mum had a suspected heart attack. They got her stable and comfortable and then had to wait for 12 hours after the incident to do a blood test to confirm whether or not she had had a heart attack. She hadn't but was kept in for a few days to be monitored. Hope he is ok.