If we take advantage of the fact that a significant number of heart attack patients experience prodromal symptoms long before the crash, we find a way to manage the problem provided that we can detect these early symptoms. Early detection is the key to solving this problem. The initial presentation of a heart attack is not easily recognizable or treated properly. The disease goes undetected until the crash takes place. To change this community wide programs need to be set up to simplify and make this detection practical and feasible.
Prevention is the key word in all of medicine.
But prevention is not truly appreciated until it comes from the other side of the equation, i.e., death and disease. We should be upset with this and aim to correct it. The secret in early detection lies in history taking. History taking does not require a physician to be present but can be taken by the nurse, the paramedic and even the lay person. We have to find out about this, but we can't do so by putting our heads into the sand.