Surprise heart attack leaves no damage thanks to fast, expert treatment
Geri Zollinger powered through an hour of aerobics but wasn’t finished for the day. Next on the agenda was a 4-mile walk with friends — a normal routine for the 66-year-old from Idaho Falls. It was a quarter-mile to the meet-up spot and as usual, her husband, Steve, accompanied her on the short walk. Geri made it part of the way before she had to stop, telling Steve she just couldn’t do it today.
It was November 25, 2024 — the start of the busy season for the interior designer, who specializes in decorating clients’ homes for Christmas.
“I was perfectly healthy, or so I thought,” says Geri. “With low cholesterol and no preexisting conditions or risk for heart attack. But right then I just didn’t feel good. And then my chest started hurting. My left arm started hurting. And my hands started tingling. Steve wanted to call an ambulance. I just wanted to go home because my chest pain wasn’t crippling and I wasn’t sweating or having any of the other symptoms you commonly think of as a heart attack. So, we went home and I tried sitting, lying down … nothing worked. That’s when I let Steve take me to the ER.”
Level I STEMI Center in Eastern Idaho
Steve took Geri to the full-service emergency room at Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center (EIRMC) — the most experienced and capable ER in southeast Idaho for adult and pediatric ER care.
“I was so impressed with the ER,” says Geri. “Before I knew it, they had me hooked up to machines and told me I was having a heart attack. They were like a car pit crew. Everyone just zipped in and did their job. They gave me a sense of calmness that everything was going to be ok. Within 15 minutes I was in the cath lab getting a stent put in.”
Geri was having a severe type of heart attack called a STEMI (ST-elevation myocardial infarction), which is a complete blockage of the aorta — the major artery leading to the heart. Fast, expert treatment is crucial for a successful outcome and to avoid permanent heart damage.
As a Level I STEMI Center, the highest in the region as designated by the Idaho Time Sensitive Emergency System, EIRMC’s cardiac specialists perform an average of more than 1,800 cath lab procedures annually, a number that rivals major metropolitan hospitals.
“The procedure seemed to be done really fast, in about 45 to 60 minutes,” says Geri. “And I only spent one night in the hospital. The care I received was excellent, from the ER to the nurses to the doctors and the respiratory therapist. They were all so kind and caring. They knew exactly what to do and were so nice about it.”
Geri credits her successful recovery to the speedy actions of her husband and the team at EIRMC.
“It’s important to do something quickly when you think something’s wrong,” she says. “Because my husband acted quickly and the ER and cath lab acted quickly, I had no damage to my heart. The day I came home I walked two miles. I was a little slower at it for a while, but now I’m back to normal. It was a really good outcome for something quite serious.”