Improving heart attack response times through collaboration
Time is muscle
When it comes to heart attacks, time is muscle. The faster a patient gets to the Cardiac Catheterization lab and has the blocked artery opened, the better their recovery. Every minute that passes can mean more heart muscle damage.
A collaboration between Cardiology at Royal University Hospital in Saskatoon and Medavie Health Services West is improving care for patients who call 911 with heart attack symptoms.
With this protocol, paramedics perform an ECG in the field and transmit it directly to the on-call interventional cardiologist. If a heart attack is confirmed, the cath lab team is activated immediately and the patient bypasses the emergency department, going straight to the cath lab for treatment.
The result is faster care, better outcomes, and fewer emergency department visits for heart attack patients.
