THE EHAC message can be told many different ways, but perhaps a unique way of getting out the message is by having individuals who have experienced the EHAC moment to provide testimony as to the benefits when action is taken. This "EHAC moment" can be liken to the Kodak moment which attempts to capture one frame of an exciting time in a person's life. The EHAC moment is also an exciting time, if this time is seen as a window of opportunity to prevent a heart attack from occurring.

It is often stated that behavioral modification needs to take place to overcome the denial that occurs when a person is experiencing the chest pain of a heart attack. Less often stated is the lack of awareness that heart attacks have beginnings when intervention early can prevent heart attacks from occurring. Knowledge here becomes power. This is the message of EHAC which is an acronym for Early Heart Attack Care. It is opposite to CPR which is cardiopulmonary resuscitation for late cardiac care. What America needs more than anything else is for the public to have an awareness for such symptoms in order to act immediately. The EHAC moment captures the true life situations and serve as a template for others to follow.

To accomplish favorable EHAC moments, an understanding of the beginning symptoms is important and how they can be overcome. This needs to be widely disseminated. It is the purpose of this editorial to provide a forum for individuals experiencing the EHAC moment to let us know how action early has prevented death and damage to a loved one's heart. We will make these EHAC moments available on this web site.

We hope also in the very near future to make this awareness message available in "bottled form" so as to have this lifesaving information readily available close to the telephone should an opportunity for an EHAC moment occur in the home or on the job.

Raymond D. Bahr, MD, FACP, FACC