Waukegan, IL, 11/25/08--Vista Medical Center East, a 336-bed hospital in Waukegan, is working in conjunction with the Waukegan Fire Department and local EMS squads (Emergency Medical Service) to make a critical difference in the lives of heart attack victims. That collaboration, combined with the use of new 12-lead electrocardiograms (ECGs) by the emergency squads has equaled immediate success.
Since April of 2008 the Waukegan Fire Department and local EMS squads have been equipped with the ZOLL M Series Interpretive 12-lead ECG machines, which work in conjunction with Bluetooth wireless technology. The device sends a patient’s heart rhythms, after experiencing chest pain, a heart attack or stroke, directly to Vista East ED (Emergency Department) for immediate interpretation.
What is so exciting about the technology is the process begins prior to when a patient arrives via ambulance at the hospital.
How Does It Work?
The results of the patient’s ECG are sent by the emergency squad via the push of a cell phone button to the hospital’s emergency department where the strip is immediately printed and interpreted, and recommendations are made—all while the emergency squad is on the phone with the Vista East Medical staff’s cardiologist and catheterization lab, which are prepping for the patient’s arrival.
“This new technology is allowing for an early mobilization of Vista Health System’s Emergency Department and Cardiology teams. Early identification was not possible with the traditional three-lead technology. The team is alerted and responds to the situation literally before the patient arrives in the Emergency Department,” said Barbara J. Martin, President and CEO of Vista Health System.
The new pre-hospital technology gives medical professionals many views of the heart which allows them to give a more accurate diagnosis. Previous technology only gave a one-dimension picture of the electrical activity of the heart. This 12-lead technology gives the emergency team many different views of the heart.
According to Dan Young, the Waukegan Fire Chief, the new 12-lead ECG machines are used a half dozen times a day. “We are cutting out 30 minutes easily. If you look at the time the emergency medical technician (paramedic) first sees the patient, to the time the patient arrives at the hospital, to the shortened time to diagnose the problem—you see a more rapid response time and interpretation of what’s going on with the heart—all because of the use of advanced 12-lead ECG technology. Many patients go straight to the cath lab upon arrival, which ultimately, means more lives are saved.” |