Here are some things you should know about these important cardiac machines and procedures, how they protect you, and why you should get to them as quickly as possible by calling 911 in a potential heart attack or stroke situation.

Automated External Defibrillator (AED) - is a computerized electrical medical device that can check a person’s heart rhythm and recognize an abnormal rhythm that requires a shock. It advises the rescuer when a shock is needed to bring the heart back into normal rhythm, or restart it. The AED uses voice prompts, lights and text messages to tell the rescuer the steps to take. These are available in ambulances, and now in many public venues like museums and sporting arenas.

Electrocardiogram (e-lek"tro-KAR'de-o-gram) (ECG or EKG) - discovers any abnormalities caused by damage to the heart and can be performed by EMS or in hospital. An ECG is a medical device that makes a graphical record of the heart's electrical activity and can now be transmitted directly from an ambulance in transit to the Emergency Cardiac Catheterization Team at your local hospital - saving wait time for life saving next steps, and very likely saving your life.

Cardiac Catheter / Angioplasty – a proven interventional treatment for someone having a heart attack, angioplasty is performed by a Physician threading a slender balloon-tipped tube, or catheter, from an artery in the groin to a trouble spot in an artery of the heart. The balloon on the end of the catheter is then inflated, compressing the plaque and dilating (widening) the artery so that blood can once again flow easily. This is often accompanied by the insertion of an expandable metal stent, a wire mesh tube used to prop open the artery after angioplasty.