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EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT PROTOCOLS FOR HEART ATTACK Protocols have been developed that can shorten the time between a heart attack and lifesaving treatment. These protocols obviously differ from institution to institution. The goal of the protocol using are to shorten the time from when the patient enters the Emergency Department to the time when they go to the cardiac catheterization department to receive an angioplasty. The protocols also include medications to be given upon arrival to the department; and also medications that should be given within the first 24 hours of arrival of the patient. It has been determined that there is a critical 90 minute window in which to treat patients with a heart attack. Some institutions require a cardiologist to be involved to get the cath lab to be part of the process; and other institutions have protocols where when an emergency room physician has diagnosed a patient with a heart attack, the physician can activate the cardiac catheterization team with one phone call, without consulting a cardiologist first. Multiple studies have shown a direct correlation between door-to-balloon time and mortality, with the most significant showing that for every 30 minutes of delay, there is a 7.5% increase in mortality at the one-year mark. *The above information was in part obtained an article on the internet by the |
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