News
Heart attack treatment meets target, says study
Calgary Herald
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
A new study suggests Calgary hospitals are almost always meeting an elusive target for treating heart attack patients.
The paper, published in today's Canadian Medical Association Journal, found 80 per cent of the 358 patients in the study were treated within the recommended 90 minutes of arriving at hospital.
Local experts credited a protocol for treating heart attack patients - known as the STEMI project - for cutting delays.
"This study shows it's possible within the current constraints of the health system (to meet the target)," said Mouhleddin Traboulsi, a Calgary physician who helped develop STEMI. "There are innovative ways of doing things."
STEMI, which has been in place for about five years, shortens the amount of time it takes to treat heart attack patients by streamlining procedures, starting with local paramedics.
STEMI has cut nearly an hour off the amount of time it takes to treat heart attacks by ensuring patients are sent to the correct hospital and don't have to wait in emergency for a diagnosis.
