JAMESTOWN, NY - February is American Heart Month and at WCA Hospital’s Heart Center, we have your best health at heart, helping keep your heart healthy. New leading-edge technologies at the Center mean precise diagnoses, improved treatments, and enhanced patient outcomes for those affected by heart disease.

Journey to a healthier heart begins at WCA. It can be frightening if you or someone you love experience signs and symptoms of a heart attack. Fortunately, you don’t have to travel far to receive exceptional care, it’s right here in your own back yard. Accurate, timely diagnosis is critical if you suspect a heart attack. As the region’s premier heart center, our specialized heart team provides patients with the newest technological advancements that assist cardiologists in evaluating, diagnosing, and monitoring heart disease. Brand new state-of-the-art stress test systems and new revolutionary treadmills at WCA – provided by a generous grant from the Carnahan-Jackson Foundation – enable the heart team to make rapid decisions about your heart so treatment can begin immediately. More recently, a brand new ultrasound system performs echocardiograms, stress echocardiograms, 3-D transeosopageal echocardiograms and pediatric echocardiograms heart studies that quickly diagnosis and assess the patients.

“As Medical Director of the WCA Heart Center, I can testify to the fact that heart disease is the number on cause of death in the United States, particularly in Western New York,” says James Cirbus, MD, FACC, board certified cardiologist on staff at WCA. “Time is truly the essence when treating a heart attack. The new testing equipment at the Center provides technological capabilities for improved diagnosis, treatment and further prevention of heart disease for our patients.”

No one wants less than the best when it comes to heart care. If you experience heart attack symptoms, take action immediately and take comfort in knowing that the cardiologists, nurses, technologists, and professional staff at the WCA Heart Center are committed to providing you with the most up-to-date, innovative technologies and treatments so you can resume your normal activities and get back to the things you love.

BOWL IN HONOR OR MEMORY OF A LOVED ONE AFFECTED BY HEART DISEASE. Strike Out Heart Disease and join us for an evening at the Fountain Bowl, 3316 Fluvanna Avenue, Jamestown, NY, on Monday, February 11th, and bowl in honor or memory of a loved one you know affected by heart disease. Sign-in begins with a basket auction at 5 p.m. Bowling starts at 6 p.m. Cost: $14 per person includes 3 games, shoes, and heart healthy snacks. Scotch Doubles Format. Register as an individual or form a team of two. Registration Required: visit www.wcahospital.org, or call 664-8423 for a registration form.

*Heart Attack Symptoms: Know what signals a medical emergency:

• Chest discomfort. Most heart attacks involve discomfort in the center of the chest that lasts more than a few minutes, or that goes away and comes back. It can feel like uncomfortable pressure, squeezing, fullness or pain.

• Discomfort in other areas of the upper body. Symptoms can include pain or discomfort in one or both arms, the back, neck, jaw, or stomach.

• Shortness of breath. May occur with or without chest discomfort.

• Other signs: These may include breaking out in a cold sweat, nausea or lightheadedness.

If you experience these symptoms, call 9-1-1 and get medical help immediately. It can save your life.
*American Heart Association