Longview Regional Medical Center (LRMC) has long had a well-designed and fully functioning process for identifying and rapidly treating STEMI patients. The hospital was meeting its goal of keeping door-to-reperfusion times under 60 minutes; as a result, patient outcomes were generally very good. Despite their satisfactory performance, the teams at LRMC believed they could reduce their treatment times even further to improve patient outcomes.
2 min read
Longview Regional Medical Center Achieves Record STEMI Treatment Times (Case Study)
Topics: STEMI Press Communication Connected Teams Systems of Care Client Success
7 min read
Where Are the STEMIs and Strokes? Doctors Urge Patients Not to Wait
Since COVID-19 began spreading in the United States in March, emergency departments have seen a sharp decrease in the number of STEMI and stroke patients coming through their doors. For almost two months, polls and anecdotal evidence have suggested that this is happening all over the country, as well as in countries like Spain, the UK, and China. The Journal of the American College of Cardiology decided to conduct a formal study of nine major hospitals across the U.S. On April 7th, they released the results, confirming with statistical evidence what doctors have been experiencing: on average, the nine hospitals saw a 38% reduction in cath lab activations for STEMI patients.
Topics: Stroke STEMI COVID-19
1 min read
Arkansas Healthcare System Uses New Communication Approach to Improve STEMI Patient Outcomes [Case Study]
Saint Mary’s Regional Health System is a Joint-Commission-accredited Level III Trauma Center, located in Russellville, Arkansas. The 170-bed hospital has delivered care to the River Valley community for the past 90 years, and alongside Pope County EMS since 1967.
Saint Mary’s and Pope County EMS have a long-standing relationship built on a shared value of putting patients first. As the only hospital and EMS agency serving their region, they together perform emergency response for 28,000 patients annually.
Topics: STEMI EMS Communication Connected Teams Systems of Care
4 min read
How One Hospital and EMS System is Reducing Time to Treatment for STEMI Patients [White Paper]
Because time is muscle during a STEMI, early intervention directly translates to lowering mortality and morbidity rates. At CarolinaEast and surrounding EMS agencies, making the appropriate communication changes has been an effective catalyst in reducing time to treatment and saving patients’ lives.
Topics: STEMI Connected Teams Systems of Care
1 min read
New AHA Algorithm Encourages ED Pre-Activation and Direct-to-Cath-Lab Protocols
In emergency conditions like STEMI, patient outcomes depend heavily on the time between onset of symptoms to definitive treatment. As such, clinicians should make every effort possible to reduce any delays during that period.
To that aim, an algorithm developed by the American Heart Association, and published earlier this week, establishes a standardized process which encourages pre-activation of the ED and determines when direct-to-cath-lab protocols are appropriate.
Topics: STEMI Connected Teams Systems of Care
6 min read
STEMI, Stroke, Sepsis and ROSC: A Decade for EMS Systems of Care
EDITOR'S NOTE: The following article was first published on EMS1.com. Special thanks to guest author, Mic Gunderson*
In the coming decade, EMS will be engaged in even more efforts to triage patients in the field to route them to the most appropriate hospitals.
Systems of care is a term that commonly refers to healthcare delivery that involves multiple organizations. EMS is deeply involved in systems of care for time-sensitive conditions like major trauma, STEMI, and cardiac arrest. Formal integration of EMS into those systems of care started in the 1960s and 70s – and the success of those early systems initiatives has continued to reverberate into this decade.
Topics: Stroke STEMI EMS Sepsis Systems of Care
1 min read
A Pulsara STEMI Case Demo
Pulsara is a communication platform that connects teams across organizations. Want to see how it works? While the demo video below focuses on a STEMI case started by EMS, STEMI is only one of the many conditions your teams can use Pulsara for. Additionally, care teams can start a case on Pulsara in the ED for walk in patients, from anywhere else in the facility for inpatients, and can use the platform to manage interfacility transfers.
Topics: STEMI
2 min read
The Changing Face of STEMI and Stroke Care
When I was fresh out of Paramedic school, STEMI and stroke patients were something we couldn’t do much about except monitor and transport. To be honest, we hadn’t even started using the term "STEMI," and we were years away from giving aspirin. Patients who survived to get discharged out of the CCU or ICU (there were no stroke units then) went on to rehab or an extended care facility with a shoebox full of meds. They were armed with lots of Digitalis and Lasix, but not much hope.
Topics: Stroke STEMI Healthcare Regional Systems of Care
2 min read
How to Reduce Door-to-ECG Times
Fewer things are more frustrating for a medic than calling in a STEMI. First, they have to send the ECG in for the physician to see before they arrive at the hospital, and then they are asked to stop at the door to get another one using the hospital’s ECG machine. When they could be out saving more lives, duplicating their efforts is the last thing they want to be doing. This practice also slows your hospital's door-to-ECG times, and therefore your overall time-to-treatment as well.
There used to be a time when prehospital ECGs were lacking in quality compared to those obtained using hospital machinery. Field ECGs simply weren't of diagnostic quality - but today's field monitors have come a long way, and are now of comparable quality to hospital machinery. As such, it no longer makes sense to require medics to repeat their ECG upon hospital arrival.
There used to be a time when prehospital ECGs were lacking in quality compared to those obtained using hospital machinery. Field ECGs simply weren't of diagnostic quality - but today's field monitors have come a long way, and are now of comparable quality to hospital machinery. As such, it no longer makes sense to require medics to repeat their ECG upon hospital arrival.
