Heart Attack Patients Given Aspirin at Arrival

 Why is this important?

The heart is a muscle that gets oxygen through blood vessels.  Sometimes blood clots can block these blood vessels, and the heart can't get enough oxygen.  This can cause a heart attack. Chewing an aspirin as soon as symptoms of a heart attack begin may help reduce the severity of the attack.  This chart shows the percent of heart attack patients who were given (or took) aspirin within 24 hours of arrival at the hospital.