Huntington Hospital Named Receiving Center for Heart Attack Patients.

Paramedics and Firefighters Instructed to Take Heart Attack Patients to Approved Centers First

PASADENA, Calif. -- Huntington Hospital has been named an ST Elevation Myocardial Infarction Receiving Center (SRC) as of January 1, 2007. The hospital qualified to become an SRC by consistently demonstrating they meet or exceed the 90 minute "time-to-treatment" goal established by the American Heart Association. This means that once patients have shown signs of heart attack on field (paramedic) EKGs, they will be brought to Huntington (or the nearest SRC) by ambulance and bloodflow to the heart will be reestablished within 90 minutes via cardiac catherization. To date, the quickest "time-to-treatment" reported at Huntington is 25 minutes.

"Meeting the strict criteria to become a STEMI Receiving Center has been an important accomplishment for Huntington," said Steve Ralph, Huntington Hospital president and CEO. "Many departments have worked hard to synchronize processes to improve 'time-to-treatment' for our heart attack patients. This positive impact will be felt throughout Pasadena and beyond."

In 2006, Huntington participated in a pilot program established by the American Heart Association (AHA) and funded by an Annenberg grant and monies from LA County's Measure B. The project was designed to improve outcomes for heart attack patients, and the first step was to arm EMS personnel with 12-lead EKG capability (previous machines had only three leads). The emergency responders also received specialized training in the principles and techniques of recognizing and treating patients with potential ST segment elevation, a clear sign of heart attack.

Hospital employees implemented new practices that included forming an Acute Myocardial Infarction (AMI) team that is notified when a heart attack victim is on the way. A special code is called throughout the hospital and the AMI team waits for the patient to arrive in the ambulance bay. The goal is to have the patient in the catheterization laboratory, with blood flow reestablished to the heart, within 90 minutes from the time the heart attack was recorded on the field EKG.

For further information about Huntington's designation as a STEMI Receiving Center, contact public relations at 626-397-5464.

Important Terms:

Myocardial Infarction (MI) = heart attack

STEMI = ST Segment Elevation Myocardial Infarction

SRC = STEMI Receiving Center

Time-to-Treatment = The time it takes for bloodflow to be reestablished to the heart

AMI Team = Acute myocardial infarction team

AHA = American Heart Association