Published on January 19, 2012

Summit Builds Collaborative Partnerships for STEMI Patient Care

STEMI Alert team members (left to right) Director of Cardiovascular and Emergency Services Jan Penny; Emergency Medicine Physician Danny Greig, M.D; Interventional Cardiologist William Felten, M.D.; STEMI Alert Team Leader Charles McWherter; MidMichigan Medical Center EMS Manager John Shaffer; Emergency Medicine Physician James Inman, M.D.; and MidMichigan Medical Center EMS Lead Supervisor Scott Shawl.

More than 120 emergency medical technicians, paramedics and other health care professionals from across the mid-Michigan area attended the MidMichigan Health STEMI Alert Summit on Thursday, Jan. 12.

“The main goal of the conference was to educate participants on the best practices for STEMI patient care and build collaborative partnerships so that we can continue to develop consistent lifesaving protocol and procedures to ensure better outcomes for our patients,” said John Shaffer, manager of MidMichigan Medical Center–Emergency Medical Services.

STEMI is one of the most serious conditions in cardiology. In a STEMI, one of the coronary arteries is partially or completely blocked off by a blood clot, and as a result virtually all the heart muscle being supplied by the affected artery starts to die. For treatment to be successful, time is crucial, and teamwork is critical. Delays at any stage can negatively impact patient outcomes. That’s why paramedics from MidMichigan Medical Center–Emergency Medical Services (EMS), along with the Emergency Department (ER) and Cardiac Catheterization teams at MidMichigan Medical Center–Midland developed a streamlined approach for treating patients experiencing cardiac emergencies.

MidMichigan’s EMS heart attack alert program is designed to rapidly identify patients with ST elevated myocardial infarctions (STEMI), activate the Cardiac Cath team and quickly transport the patient to MidMichigan Medical Center–Midland, the nearest Percutaneous Coronary Intervention (PCI) Center, where the artery is opened and blood flow is re-establish to the heart.

By completing specialized training on how to read a 12-lead electrocardiogram (ECG), paramedics can perform the test upon arrival at the scene, quickly identify cardiac emergencies and immediately notify the ER. From there, the ER staff admits the patient and activates the Cardiac Cath Rapid Response Team, which includes an interventional cardiologist, specially trained nurses and radiology technicians. This allows the paramedics to completely bypass the ER and take the patient straight to the Cardiac Cath Lab for immediate intervention.  

Those who would like additional information about MidMichigan’s STEMI Alert Program, may visit www.midmichigan.org/stemi.