Minutes matter when you're having a heart attack A hospital should give you an artery-clearing angioplasty within 90 minutes of your arrival, yet many struggle to do so.(Health & Fitness)

0 Comments | Daily Herald (Arlington Heights, IL), September, 2005 | by Stevens, Susan

Byline: Susan Stevens Daily Herald Health Writer One day in April, Dennis Degroot, 53, came home a little early from his job in Lombard. He took the chance to rake some old leaves littering the driveway. He felt sluggish, like he was walking in slow motion, but he chalked it up to the cortisone injections he'd received for a sore back.

Then he felt a twinge in his chest. Degroot took a shower to help him feel better. By the time he got out, his chest pain was so severe he dropped to his knees and had to roll across the floor to reach the phone to dial 911. Degroot was suffering a massive heart attack. Degroot was lucky. The nearest hospital, Advocate Good Samaritan in Downers Grove, had been working to speed up treatment for heart- attack patients....