In the News: Chance encounter saves Eastside man’s life

KIRO 7's Linzi Sheldon tells the story of Overlake Medical Center's cardiac device nurse Katie Bickell, RN, BSN, whose training kicked in when she saw a complete stranger having a medical episode at a local restaurant. She urged him to go to Overlake's Emergency Department, where it was discovered he was having a massive heart attack.

Cardiologist Thomas Amidon, MD, details the signs and symptoms the man was exhibiting that people don't often associate with a heart attack.

From the story: “[He was] rubbing his wrist and then would kind of go wipe his forehead and his color was awful," said Katie Bickell, RN, BSN. “Inside I’m like, ‘This is very wrong, and he needs to go to the emergency room ASAP.’”

Thomas Amidon, MD, said heart attacks aren’t usually sharp stabbing pain — like you see in the movies.

“[It’s] burning, tightness, pressure, heaviness, oftentimes confused with heartburn and acid reflux,” he said. “If it’s severe, if it’s out of the ordinary, if it’s abrupt, if it follows exercise as opposed to following a meal, that’s when you think about your heart.”

Read the full story here.