My wife has SVT (supraventricular tachycardia). She's ended up in the ER several times. Thank goodness the medication and a few other changes have it under control. She drinks less with caffeine and stays better hydrated, eases into activity, changes positions slowly, etc...
One time she called me at work and was faint and had to lie down on the front porch. I called 911 on another line. The volunteer rescue squad showed up and kept saying "your pulse is fine". I tried to explain to check the apical pulse, but it just didn't register. I had the 911 operator tell the paramedics from the ambulance service to check her apical and he said it was over 200 (240 by the monitor once they got her hooked up). On a third line I had called my dad to have him go to the house because my wife was on the front porch waiting on the bus to bring home our 8 and 5 year olds. As soon as the scene there was handled I left work for the hospital. When I came to the door of her room they were injecting the last dose of adenosine and were preparing to shock her if it didn't work. Thankfully, after about a 5 second pause her heart rate dropped from the previous 248 down to 90 so she avoided being shocked while awake. That would have been most unpleasant. We live in a small town and in short time the word was she was on cocaine and had overdosed. Everything that happens in a small town happens because of dope, after all.
