An astounding study finds that heart attack patients who arrive at hospitals when the government-licensed doctor is away HAVE HIGHER SURVIVAL RATES than those who see a doctor.
The Atlanta Journal Constitution reports on the study here.
The study found that 19.5 percent of patients died within 30 days of admission when the doctor was present, but just 16.9 percent died when the cardiologist was away.
Reasons are unclear. It may be that government-approved physicians are trained to administer more traumatic emergency procedures–such as stents–while lower-level nurses and staff focus on immediate survival. Patients who manage to survive the initial minutes of a heart attack then become more likely to take charge of their own health when no doctor is available.
