3,650 patients arrived in the Carle emergency room experiencing chest pain in 2010. Of those patients, only 25 percent arrived via ambulance and 24 percent arrived within two hours of symptom onset.
“If a person experiencing chest pain arrives to the ER within 30 minutes of the onset of symptoms, they have a 97 percent chance of survival,” said Ben Davis, MD, Carle emergency medicine. “However, the same person who ignores the symptoms and waits several hours to come to the hospital has a one in 10 chance of cardiac-related death. Time is critical, and anyone experiencing chest pain should call 911 immediately.”
According to the SCPC, patient outcomes improve significantly when a patient is treated within 90 minutes of onset of heart attack symptoms. National data has shown that patients who died had a longer wait time between arriving at the ER and receiving intervention to open the blocked heart artery. Carle has been recognized for getting patients from the ER to the catheterization lab in the shortest timeframe possible and having among the best outcomes for heart attack care in the nation.
Why call 911? Lifesaving treatment can start on the patient’s doorstep. Patients arriving via ambulance are likely to have surgery 15-17 minutes sooner than a patient who arrives via private transportation.
EMS can perform the following while in transit to hospital:
- Provide advance notification of patient’s condition to the ER
- Assess patient and start IVs
- Administer medication
- Perform electrocardiogram (EKG) test and transmit results to ER
Learn more at Carle.org/Heart.