Note To Self

Apr 19, 2008 at 12:25 PM
12 comments

Cardiac Patients Admitted During Week More Likely to Survive

Published: 04/16/08

WEDNESDAY, April 16 (HealthDay News) -- Your chances for surviving a cardiac arrest are 13.4 percent worse if you are admitted to the hospital on the weekend versus a weekday, according to new research.

Even after taking into account factors such as hospital size and location and the person's age, gender and other illnesses, the lower survival rate remains the same.

"A higher death rate among patients admitted on weekends may be due to lack of resources for treating cardiac arrest," study author Richard M. Dubinsky, of the University of Kansas Medical Center in Kansas City, said in a prepared statement

Note to self: If or when I have a heart attack, I'll have to plan it on Monday thru Friday. I would guess Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday would be preferable. Monday, workers are tired from the weekend and Friday they are eager to go home, so if I have a heart attack I'll choose Wednesday, yip that's my plan. I'm glad I was warned.

12 comments

Comments

How to plan for your cardiac event. I love it.

I wonder if they accounted for the fact that places are usually lower staffed on weekends. I don't know if that applies to ERs or not, but it certainly does with labs and patient care floors.

Weekends, then nights, then the day shift...Best note to self: Don't have one

I think this probably applies to most medical problems, eh? Next time I break a limb, I'll try for a Tuesday morning.

So the terror of having a cariac arrest on weekend may just tip me over the edge in apprehension!

I read somewhere once that the majority of people die within a three week range of their birthday -either side of birthday- I have had a number of serious illnesses in this period so do not have the courage to discount!

Wow --- I remember when my mom was failing, I always thought the weekend staff just wasn't as good as the weekday staff, but I thought I was just making that up. Maybe I wasn't!