When 70-year-old Polly, of Whidbey Island, went to bed one recent night, she had no idea she would awake to the fight of her life. Polly awoke at 4 a.m. and knew something wasn’t right. Her chest hurt. Her hands were tingling. She was scared. When she woke up her husband and told him what was happening, he called 9-1-1.

First responders arrived at her Langley home and did an electrocardiogram (EKG) to check her heart’s electrical activity.

“You’re having a heart attack,” the medic told Polly. “You’re going to Providence—that’s the best place to go for a heart attack.”

On the short ferry ride medics continued the EKGs and sent results to the heart team at Providence Everett, led that morning by cardiologist Conrad Jablonski, M.D. Dr. Jablonski created a care plan for Polly while she was enroute. As soon as she arrived, she was rushed to a cardiac catheterization lab with state-of-the-art imaging technology and a specialized cardiovascular team.

“They hustled because time was really important,” said Polly.

Dr. Jablonski quickly placed five stents in Polly’s blocked arteries—restoring blood flow and stopping her heart attack.

“As bad it was for me to have this happen, it was good I was at Providence,” said Polly. “I may not be here today if I hadn’t gone there.”