Every Second Counts

Faster Care for Heart Attack Patients

When a heart attack strikes, every minute counts. The longer the heart goes without oxygenated blood circulating through it, said Dr. Michael Widmer, a cardiologist with Heart Center Cardiology, the more the muscle dies and the worse the long-term prognosis for the patient.

“The faster you can restore blood flow to the heart, the more heart muscle you save and the better the patient does over the long term,” Widmer said.

With a goal of providing faster heart attack treatment, Cascade Healthcare Community (CHC) and Heart Center Cardiology are teaming up to take part in a national initiative from the American College of Cardiology. The goal is to reduce what’s known as Door-to-Balloon time, or the time it takes from when heart attack patients arrive at the emergency department to the moment their artery is opened in the cardiac catheterization lab.

“Every hospital in the state with a heart program is involved,” said Al DiLuzio, director of cardiovascular services, explaining already St. Charles Bend has had impressive results. “We’ve already gone from 75 minutes down to 61.5 minutes. The national average is 180 minutes with less than 5 percent of patients treated within 90 minutes.”

Ultimately, CHC would like to reduce its Door-to-Balloon time to 30 minutes total. The organization also has a goal of reducing the time it takes from the arrival of emergency personnel on the scene to the time the artery is opened to 90 minutes within a 60-mile radius of Bend.

To do that requires a regional effort incorporating emergency medical technicians and emergency physicians throughout Central Oregon. DiLuzio and Widmer are working with physicians Dr. Matthew Eschelbach in Redmond, Dr. Doug Gruzd in Prineville and Dr. Mark Sampson in Bend.

They hope to create a system where the catheterization lab staff are called, and arrive ready to work, with greater speed. The overall goal is to improve processes so that true heart attack patients are diagnosed and moved for treatment as quickly as possible. Part of the process also involves public education. Patients must recognize the symptoms of a heart attack quickly and call for an ambulance.

“To put it in bold terms, denial kills,” DiLuzio said. “We want to be the best and to help patients avoid long-term, chronic heart failure.” And ultimately, Diluzio said, the goal is to save lives.

For more information on the door-toballoon program or on heart care in Central Oregon call St. Charles Heart Services at 382-4321.