Atrium collaborates with squads to improve heart care

Record door-to-balloon times

Mercy Hospital Fairfield- 11 minutes

The Fort Hamilton Hospital- 18 minutes

Atrium Medical Center- 23 minutes

SOURCES: Hospital officials

MIDDLETOWN — If you have a heart attack, Atrium Medical Center could have your artery opened within 23 minutes.

That’s what the healthcare field calls “door-to-balloon time.” Door-to-balloon is the time from when a patient first arrives at the hospital doors until their arteries are unblocked in a catheterization lab, which can be done with a small balloon.

“Time is important because saving heart muscle means a reduced risk of mortality and an improved quality of life after recovery,” said Kim Crout, Atrium Chest Pain Center coordinator and Cardiology Product Line Quality registered nurse.

An accredited Chest Pain Center, Atrium works with local Emergency Medical Services to improve speed and quality of heart care delivery, according to Rhonda Proffitt, Atrium director of cardiology product line. Atrium has provided some local squads with electronic devices to help transmit electrocardiograms, or heart readings, from the field to Atrium’s Emergency Trauma Center. Proffitt said that Atrium has authorized emergency squads to activate Atrium’s Cardiac Catheterization Lab team, including the interventional cardiologist, allowing them to be ready when the patient arrives.

A wireless one-call activation system is used that allows the hospital to simultaneously contact members of the medical team for heart attacks, she added.

Atrium’s average door-to-balloon time is 65 minutes, according to the hospital.

February is American Heart Month. Cardiovascular diseases are the number one killers in the U.S., according to American Heart Association.

Warning signs of a heart attack include shortness of breath and discomfort in the center of the chest such as uncomfortable pressure, squeezing, fullness or pain, according to the heart association. It can also show up as discomfort elsewhere in the body, such as the arms, back, neck, jaw or stomach. The association urges people who have these signs to call 9-1-1.

Hospitals should reach a standard door-to-balloon time of 90 minutes, according to the American College of Cardiology.

Contact this reporter at (513) 705-2551 or clevingston@coxohio.com.