Flagler Hospital gets to heart of = matter

Facility is first in = Northeast=20 Florida to install a cardiac EKG = receiver.

By URVAKSH = KARKARIA, The Times-Union

When it comes to treating a heart attack, wasted = minutes=20 can mean lost years.

=

To help deliver care ASAP, Flagler Hospital has = installed=20 technology that can trim the time between the onset of = a heart=20 attack and when treatment begins.=20

How it = works
The=20 LifeNet EKG system allows paramedics to transmit=20 electrocardiograms, taken in the ambulance, to the = emergency=20 room via cell phone:

-- The EKG is transmitted = via cell=20 phone to the ER.

-- The EKG is received in the = ER=20 through a $40,000 receiver and displayed on a computer = monitor.

-- The ER doctor uses the information = to help=20 diagnose the condition and determine = treatment.

--=20 Based on what the EKG shows, the doctor can tell = paramedics to=20 take the patient to the cardiac catheterization lab or = bring=20 him into the ER.

The St. Augustine-based hospital said it is the = first in=20 Northeast Florida to install a $40,000 receiver that = allows=20 St. Johns County Fire Rescue to instantly transmit the = patient's electrocardiogram from the ambulance to the=20 Emergency Department. The LifeNet service is expected = to be=20 fully operational by the end of next week, Flagler = spokesman=20 Peter Bacon said Monday.=20

The early notification, hospital officials hope, = will=20 reduce heart damage, improve survival rates and = prevent heart=20 failure.=20

The technology called LifeNet EKG, "allows = [doctors] to get=20 the EKG at the earliest possible time rather than = waiting=20 after transport and arrival in the emergency room," = said=20 Flagler's Chief of Cardiology, Howard Baker III.=20

Jacksonville Fire Rescue Department will also = install=20 technology that allows EKGs to be transmitted = electronically=20 from its rescue units, department spokesman Tom = Francis said.=20 Funding is secured, Francis said, and the department = is=20 evaluating potential vendors of the technology.=20

The LifeNet system allows emergency crews to = transmit the=20 EKG to the ER, via cell phone.=20

Until now, EKGs taken in the ambulance were = typically=20 hand-delivered upon arrival at the ER.=20

An EKG records the electrical activity of the = heart. During=20 a heart attack, there are distinctive changes in the = pattern=20 of that recording. Patients who have chest pains or = display=20 symptoms of a heart attack typically undergo EKGs.=20

The LifeNet system, installed in nine St. Johns = County=20 ambulances, buys the patient precious time - allowing = doctors=20 to get a leg up in diagnosing the problem and possibly = devising a course of treatment, even before the = patient has=20 arrived at the hospital.=20

"If you're a young man, having a heart attack in = the front=20 wall of your heart, you're ... killing [heart] muscle = starting=20 in about 30 minutes," Baker said. "Moving as promptly = as=20 possible saves significant amounts of muscle," which = is=20 irreplaceable.=20

"God only gives you so much muscle," Baker added.=20

The LifeNet system can potentially reduce = "door-to-balloon=20 time" by 30 minutes or more, Baker said. = "Door-to-balloon=20 time" refers to the time a patient enters the hospital = to the=20 time a balloon is inflated for angioplasty, a = procedure used=20 to open a blocked heart artery.=20

Using the real-time EKG information, doctors can = also=20 direct paramedics to take the patient directly to the=20 appropriate department, say the cardiac = catheterization lab,=20 rather than have the patient clog up an already = overcrowded=20 ER.=20

But the LifeNet system has its challenges. If cell = phone=20 coverage is spotty, the EKG might not go through to = the=20 hospital, said Jeremy Robshaw, spokesman with St. = Johns County=20 Fire Rescue.=20

The LifeNet system attempts to send the EKG three = times.=20 After the third attempt, the paramedic must resend it. =

Despite the potential for delays because of spotty = cell=20 phone coverage, Baker said, the technology is "still = the=20 fastest way to get the information to the receiving = hospital."=20

urvaksh.karkaria@jackso= nville.com,=20

(904) 359-4367


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