MDH Participates in Rapid Heart Care Programs

McDonough District Hospital in Macomb is participating in rapid heart care treatment programs to promote faster treatment of heart attack patients. The goal of this program is to identify, treat, and transfer acute heart attack patients to a cardiac cath lab within 90 minutes of arriving in the MDH emergency room. MDH is partnering with the “STAT Heart” program through Prairie Care Alliance, Springfield, along with OSF Saint Francis Heart Care Midwest Peoria’s comparable “Heart 777” cardiac program. When a patient with coronary blockage (heart attack) qualifies, the system will be activated to dispatch an OSF Saint Francis LifeFlight or AirEvac helicopter to transport the patient to the appropriate receiving hospital where the cardiac catherization lab staff and a cardiologist will be ready for the patient upon arrival.

“Studies show that the quicker the heart muscle arteries are reopened, the better the outcome,” said Lisa Page, Prairie Care Alliance R. N. and coordinator of the Prairie STAT Heart program. “Heart attack patients are much better off if blood flow to the heart is restored by a cardiologist doing a procedure in a cath lab.”

The Prairie STAT Heart program melds cooperation and collaboration between the community hospital emergency department, EMS ground and air transport, Springfield hospitals, and cardiologists of Prairie Cardiovascular.

Once an emergency room physician has identified an acute heart attack patient, the STAT Heart team is paged to respond. The team verifies that the patient is an appropriate candidate for the program and receives proper medication, which may include thrombolytics to help dissolve blood clots, from MDH emergency room staff. The Prairie cardiologist and receiving hospital are alerted, and transport is arranged for the patient. All activity occurs in a much abbreviated period of time so the patient arrives in the cardiac cath lab within 90 minutes or less, which is faster than many metropolitan hospitals.

St. John’s Hospital and Memorial Medical Center in Springfield, along with Prairie Cardiovascular, are all participating in the program. “STAT Heart was launched in December 2004, and has served hundreds of patients in central and southern Illinois who suffer heart attacks. MDH is one of 14 community hospitals in the Northern Illinois STAT Heart Program.

The OSF Saint Francis Heart Care Midwest and MDH have a comparable program named Heart 777 after the three-digit code that healthcare professionals receive on their pagers when they are being summoned to respond to a heart attack. When emergency room staff at MDH and a member of the OSF Cardiac Network determines that a patient is a candidate for the program, staff at OSF are contacted to begin a protocol for treatment and activate the system to dispatch an OSF LifeFlight helicopter to transport the patient to OSF for cardiac care.

“The key is for MDH emergency medical technicians to identify the cardiac status of the patient at the ambulance call location so necessary steps can be taken to initiate treatment and transfer protocols to cardiac care departments available to MDH by helicopter transport to Springfield, Peoria or other cardiac care hospitals,” said Chris Dace, director of emergency services at MDH. “We have an excellent record of identifying cardiac patients, stabilizing their condition and preparing them for immediate transportation to a specialized cardiac facility.”

The protocols and systems outlined in the STAT Heart and Heart 777 programs should provide better feedback regarding patient care, streamline our processes and provide consistent protocols and improved outcomes, according to Dace.

Cardiac patients who transfer to specialized facilities from MDH have the same preparation whether they select facilities in Springfield or Peoria. Dace said MDH is discussing similar STAT Heart type programs with cardiac care providers in Quincy and other cardiac specialized facilities.

Story by: John Maguire

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