CUH boosts heart attack response times
The so-called “door to needle” time has been cut from 126 minutes last January to just 48 minutes in September, according to a report carried out by medical experts.
Death rates and complications following a heart attack can be dramatically reduced by giving injections of thrombolytic or clot busting drugs to suitable patients. To be fully effective, these drugs need to be given as speedily as possible to heart attack victims.
When a suspected heart attack victim arrives at the emergency department an electrocardiograph is carried out to confirm the condition. After this the thrombolytic drug is administered and the patient is admitted for further treatment.
Dr Gemma Kelleher, an emergency medicine consultant who is also chairman of the CUH emergency department’s quality improvement team, has documented significant improvements in “door to needle” times this year. There has been consistent reduction in the critical time for treating patients, and since the new emergency department opened its doors in April, the length of time has more than halved again.
“This improvement reflects faster diagnosis and treatment as a result of better resources in the new department, and teamwork in association with cardiology,” Dr Kelleher said.
She said that figures for “door to needle” time are being monitored continuously as part of the quality improvement process, and the aim is not just to maintain this improvement, but also to look at ways of reducing times even further.
Dr Kelleher also emphasised the role of Aspirin in the treatment of heart attacks. “In research studies Aspirin has been shown to reduce deaths following heart attack by up to a quarter, when used in conjunction with other drugs,” she said.
Her advice to anyone who feels they may be having a heart attack is to take an Aspirin, ring 999 and get to hospital as quickly as possible.
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