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We Oklahomans know heart attack signs about as well as our peers. What we don’t do so well is call 911.

What gives?

A recent issue of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report compared how much 71,994 residents of 14 states knew about heart attack symptoms and whether they knew to call 911.

Overall, awareness of all five warning signs was 31 percent.  Eighty-six percent of respondents reported they would first call 911 if someone were having a heart attack. Among Oklahomans, only 81 percent would do so.

In 2005 approximately 920,000 people had heart attacks; approximately 157,000 were fatal. Fewer people would die from heart attacks if they sought medical care more quickly.