Peterborough Regional Vascular Health Network (VHN)

Is This An Emergency?

The VHN website is meant to provide general information to readers interested in learning more about vascular disease. It cannot substitute for an evaluation by a physician, especially if your symptoms constitute an emergency.
To help decide whether this is an emergency, quickly refer to the list below:

Chest pain of more than 15 minutes duration, usually central, can be accompanied by sweating, shortness of breath, radiating to left or right arm, back, into the abdomen or even the legs: could be heart attack or other major vascular event.

Shortness of breath, especially if sudden, inability to lie flat due to shortness of breath, may be accompanied by ankle swelling and with or without the type of chest pain described above: could be heart failure.

Awareness of fast or slow heart beat, whether regular or irregular, plus or minus shortness of breath and or the type of chest pain described above and particularly if associated with fainting or near fainting: could be a life-threatening rhythm disturbance.

Blurred vision, slurred speech, weakness of the arms or legs, sudden severe headache, disorientation, sudden inappropriate behaviour: could be a sign of a stroke.

IF ANY OF THE ABOVE APPLY, YOU MAY BE HAVING A LIFE-THREATENING VASCULAR EMERGENCY! CALL 911 RIGHT NOW.

Tell the operator you think you may be having a heart attack or stroke and follow their instruction exactly. Ask a family member to unlock the front door of the house and turn on all the lights at the front of the house to aid ambulance personnel in finding you. If no one is home and you feel able to do so, do these tasks yourself.

If you do not have 911 service, consult the list of phone numbers below for the hospitals in your area within the Peterborough region or call your local fire department. If you are outside of the Peterborough region, call your local fire service which provides first response for emergencies in most communities.

Peterborough Regional Health Centre 705-743-2121

Northumberland Hills (Cobourg/Port Hope) 905-372-6811

Ross Memorial (Lindsay) 705-324-6111

Campbellford Hospital 705-653-1140

Haliburton 705-457-1392

Minden 705-286-2288

Bancroft Hospital 613-332-2826

CALL 911 NOW! Do NOT attempt to make an appointment with your family physician to discuss these problems. You may die waiting for an appointment. CALL 911 NOW! PROCEED TO THE NEAREST EMERGENCY ROOM WITHOUT DELAY!