If you think you may be having a heart attack, seconds count. Call 911.

A heart attack occurs when blood flow to your heart is blocked. Without blood and the oxygen it carries, part of your heart starts to die. A heart attack doesn't have to be deadly. Quick treatment can restore blood flow to your heart and save your life. CoxHealth’s emergency departments use emergency protocols that save precious minutes and in some cases, can even interrupt a heart attack while it's still in progress.

Cardiac Catheterization

At CoxHealth, our state-of-the-art cardiac catheterization labs are available around the clock and staffed by experts in emergency catheterization. So when patients experience a heart attack, these interventional cardiologists can open narrowed coronary arteries, often preventing heart damage. Interventional cardiologists evaluate heart failure, valvular disease and congenital heart disease. New digital mapping of the heart allows physicians to treat certain life-threatening, irregular heart beats.

Signs & Symptoms of a Heart Attack

Chest pain - sometimes the pain will feel like it's moving up into the shoulders, neck, arms or jaw
Nausea and sometimes abdominal pain
Shortness of breath

Feeling cold and clammy
Unusual fatigue or tiredness
Dizziness or fainting

Your Level 1 STEMI Center

Cox Medical Center South was awarded Level I STEMI Center status by the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services. This recognition is for excellence in treating cardiac care and heart attack patients. It is the highest rank available. CoxHealth treats thousands of heart attack patients each year and has received formal recognition for the care provided to major heart attack suffers.

The Level I Difference

What does access to a Level I STEMI Center mean to you? It means we have everything in place to provide excellent, evidence-based care for you or your loved one when it is needed most.

At Cox South, we have policy and procedures in place that allow us to get these critically ill patients from the ER door to lifesaving treatment in our cath lab in roughly 40-50 minutes. When EMS is involved, we can get you into the cath lab in about 70-80 minutes from the time the first responders pick you up at your home. These times are well under the national average for heart attack care.

Additional STEMI Designations at CoxHealth

In addition to Cox South's designation, Cox Medical Center Branson was designated as a Level II STEMI Center, and Cox Monett Hospital as a Level III. These are the highest designations possible for each hospital based on their respective sizes and classifications.