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Response Time Critical for Heart Attack or Stroke
Speedy Recovery
Oakville resident Patricia Boyer, 55, had a blocked artery cleared in 35 minutes after entering st. Anthony’s Medical Center’s emergency department, well under the 90-minute national benchmark for Accredited Chest Pain Centers.
Know what the paramedics already know — get to the right hospital if you’re having a heart attack or stroke. Not just the nearest hospital, but the right hospital. In 2008, Missouri became the first state in the nation to enact a law requiring emergency responders to take stroke and acute heart attack patients to designated care centers.
Studies have shown that going to the wrong hospital may delay appropriate treatment and increase the risk of death. When every minute of delay means more heart muscle dies, it’s critical to go to a facility that has the resources to rapidly diagnose and treat a heart attack or stroke.
Coordinated Response System
St. Anthony’s was part of the statewide task force that helped develop the “Time Critical Diagnosis” legislation. The hospital is accredited at the highest level by the Society of Chest Pain Centers and is one of only three area hospitals certified as a Primary Stroke Center.
Key to St. Anthony’s expertise is a well-coordinated system of response. The hospital’s Emergency Department works directly with local EMS crews to obtain EKGs while the patient is either still at home or en route in an ambulance. A single pager alerts the cardiac catheterization team to begin treatment immediately upon arrival for suspected heart attack patients. To treat stroke, St. Anthony’s has a designated Stroke Team with boardcertified neurologists and neurosurgeons, an interventional radiologist and specially trained registered nurses on call around the clock.
The Society of Chest Pain Centers recommends a 90-minute or less “door to wire” time for heart attack patients. “Door to wire” starts when a patient enters an Emergency Department and ends when a clogged artery is opened.
For information, please call our Health Access Line at 314-ANTHONY (268-4669) or 800-554-9550 or visit our find a physician online.
At St. Anthony's, our vision is to be the area's premier health care organization — and your first choice for health care services.