Decreasing door-to-balloon times via a streamlined referral protocol for patients requiring transport

Improving Door-to-balloon Time by Decreasing Door-to-ECG time for Walk-in STEMI Patients

INTRODUCTION The American Heart Association/American College of Cardiology guidelines recommend rapid door-to-electrocardiography (ECG) times for patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). Previous quality improvement research at our institution revealed that we were not meeting this benchmark for walk-in STEMI patients. The objective is to investigate whether simple, dir...

Trends in race-based differences in door-to-balloon times.

I n 2004, our group reported that black patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) were more likely to experience delays in reperfusion than white patients, primarily owing to poorer performance of hospitals with a disproportionate representation of black patients. Since that initial observation, several high-profile initiatives have sought to improve national performance ...

Factors Contributing to Door-to-Balloon Times of ≤90 Minutes in 97% of Patients with ST-Elevation Myocardial Infarction: Our One-Year Experience with a Heart Alert Protocol.

CONTEXT Prompt percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) for patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) can significantly reduce mortality and morbidity, although its effectiveness may be limited by delays in delivery. In March 2008, our hospital implemented a Heart Alert protocol to rapidly identify and treat patients with STEMI presenting to our Emergency Department (ED) ...

Using EMS Dispatch to Trigger STEMI Alerts Decreases Door-to-Balloon Times

INTRODUCTION We sought to determine the potential reduction in door-to-balloon time (DTB) by allowing paramedics to perform prehospital ST-Elevation Myocardial Infarction (STEMI) notification using brief communications via emergency medical services (EMS) 9-1-1 dispatchers as soon as they saw a STEMI on 12-lead electrocardiogram (EKG). Our hypothesis was that earlier cardiac catheterization lab...

Tyranny of Door-to-Balloon Time.