Premier hospitalised after chest pains, false alarm say doctors

SAFE AND SOUND: Premier Daniel Anderson was admitted to Waitakere Hospital (above) this afternoon after reporting chest pains. The pains were not related to the heart, tests found.

Havilland, WE, Jan 18 · Plo 3 – Premier Daniel Anderson is resting in the capital tonight after being admitted to hospital with chest pains this afternoon.

The Premier reported waking this morning with sharp pains in the centre of his chest. The pains subsided around 12:30pm, however returned around 2pm and began moving towards his heart.

An ambulance was dispatched to Havilland from a station nearby in Auckland after the Premier noticed a numb feeling at the top of his left arm shortly before 4pm.

After an examination by paramedics, he was taken to Waitakere Hospital, around 20 minutes north-west of Havilland, and admitted at around 4:45pm.

Blood tests run that evening showed that the source of the pain was unrelated to the heart, and was possibly a strained chest muscle. Following final tests, the Premier was cleared to leave shortly before 9pm.

Doctors credited the Premier with charting on a piece of paper where the pains had been occurring, saying that it had made examinations easier to perform.

A brief statement was issued by the Premier’s office this evening, stating that the Premier had been taken to Waitakere Hospital following chest pains, but after testing had been given a clean bill of health and taken back to rest in Havilland.

If you feel you may be suffering a heart attack, ring 111 (in Sirocco) immediately.