Code STEMI – London Ambulance Service

Ivan Rokos, M.D. has referred to primary PCI for acute STEMI as “the most complex, multi-disciplinary, and time-sensitive therapeutic intervention in the world of medicine.” The emphasis on door-to-balloon times, and more recently, first medical contact or EMS-to-balloon times has transformed how acutely ill patients suffering heart attacks receive timely reperfusion in many communities, because as we’re so often told, “time is muscle.” While some believe that the emphasis on door-to-balloon times has unintended consequences, in our opinion the real-life stories of the men and women who build these systems of care illustrate the very best of what modern medicine has to offer. A single 9-1-1 call (9-9-9 in the UK) triggers an awe-inspiring series of highly coordinated events that clearly demonstrate that despite all of our arguments about health care and how it should be paid for, when a fellow human being is in danger, we will work together to save that person’s life. We will exercise exceptional caring and competence, and then return that patient to their family. We give them another chance. That’s powerful. Many of us in EMS (and other areas of medicine) love survivor stories because it makes us feel good to know we’ve helped another human being. That’s why we got into medicine in the first place. But then something happened. We became jaded. We became cynical. We saw the worst in people. The Code STEMI Web Series is a s...
Source: EMS 12-Lead - Category: Cardiology Authors: Tags: Dispatch & Communications EMS Dispatch ems-topics patient-management Uncategorized Code STEMI Web Series EMS in the UK London Ambulance Service Source Type: research