Friday, September 3, 2021
San Juan Regional Medical Center EMS Earns National Recognition for Implementation of Quality Care for Severe Heart Attack Patients
San Juan Regional Medical Center EMS has received the American Heart Association’s Mission: Lifeline® EMS Gold Plus Achievement Award for the third year in a row. The Gold Plus Award is the highest recognition awarded by the American Heart Association, given to EMS Departments for implementing quality improvement measures to treat patients who experience severe heart attacks.
“San Juan Regional Medical Center is honored to be recognized by the American Heart Association once again for our dedication to providing optimal care for heart attack patients,” said Jeff Bourgeois, President and CEO of San Juan Regional Medical Center. “As a community hospital, our focus is on doing everything we can to provide quality care for our patients. That includes turning treatment guidelines into lifelines, using the Mission: Lifeline program to give heart attack patients the best possible chance of survival.”
Each year, more than 250,000 people experience an ST elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI), the deadliest type of heart attack, caused by a blockage of blood flow to the heart that requires timely treatment. To prevent death, it is critical to restore blood flow as quickly as possible, either by mechanically opening the blocked vessel or by providing clot-busting medication.
The American Heart Association’s Mission: Lifeline program helps reduce barriers to prompt treatment for heart attacks – starting from when 9-1-1 is called, to EMS transport and continuing through hospital treatment and discharge. Optimal care for heart attack patients takes coordination between the individual hospital, EMS and healthcare system.
“EMTs and paramedics play a vital part in the system of care for those who have heart attacks,” said Tim Henry, M.D., chair of the Mission: Lifeline Acute Coronary Syndrome Subcommittee. “Since they often are the first medical point of contact, they can save precious minutes of treatment time by activating the emergency response system that alerts hospitals to an incoming heart attack patient.”
Those guidelines include delivering education in STEMI identification; providing access to 12-lead ECGs, which measure the electrical activity of the heart and can help determine if a heart attack has occurred; and developing protocols based on American Heart Association guidelines. Following these protocols greatly improves the quality of care and quality of life for patients and demonstrates our commitment to providing quality care to our patients.