Don't Play Waiting Game with Heart Attack

SOUTH PLACER COUNTY – If you’re having a heart attack and need a stent or angioplasty to restore blood flow, clinical guidelines set a goal of 90 minutes for you to receive this interventional treatment.

 Last year, Sutter Roseville Medical Center, which is a heart attack receiving center for South Placer County, was making improvements to shave a few precious minutes from its processes when it noticed a disturbing trend: In January-March 2011, local residents waited an average of nearly 90 minutes after experiencing heart attack symptoms before calling 9-1-1 or coming to the hospital.

 That’s when the Placer 9-1-1 campaign was born. The campaign was launched with a press conference at a Roseville fire station on Tuesday, March 27.

 When it comes to heart attacks, time is muscle. The success of the outcome depends greatly on the timeframe in which heart attack patients receive the proper care. For this purpose, Sutter Roseville partnered with the American Heart Association, the Sierra-Sacramento Valley EMS Agency and others to educate the public on the importance of recognizing the symptoms of a heart attack and then calling 9-1-1 rather than coming straight to the emergency room.

 “We have developed a multi-system, coordinated approach for one reason: to save lives,” said George Fehrenbacher, M.D., medical director of Cardiology Services at Sutter Roseville Medical Center and the chairman of the Heart Attack Subcommittee of the Sierra-Sacramento Valley EMS Agency. “We have been working for more than three years to make our processes as efficient as possible. Now we hope Placer 9-1-1 will get the word out to the public to call 9-1-1 as soon as they’re experiencing symptoms or signs of a heart attack.”

 In March 2010, Sutter Roseville Medical Center was designated a Regional Heart Attack Center, allowing emergency medical technicians to bypass other hospitals if a patient in South Placer and neighboring counties is having a severe heart attack – called a STEMI (ST Elevation Myocardial Infarction), caused by a clot in one or more of the coronary arteries. The key component of an active STEMI Center is primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), otherwise known as angioplasty.

 Through a coordinated effort from Placer County Health Department, Roseville Fire Department, Sutter Roseville Medical Center, American Medical Response, Sierra-Sacramento Valley EMS Agency and other EMS providers in Placer County, Placer County has now established a STEMI system of care and is poised to improve readiness, response and care for STEMI emergencies.

 Under the coordinated approach, when a person within 45 minutes of Sutter Roseville Medical Center exhibits heart attack symptoms and calls 9-1-1, EMTs perform an electrocardiogram on the scene and, if the patient is assessed to be in STEMI, the ambulance would be diverted directly to the Sutter Roseville Medical Center Emergency Department for an emergent interventional treatment.

 During the press conference Tuesday, the warning signs of a heart attack were detailed. They include:

• Most heart attacks involve chest discomfort. It may last for several minutes or go away and come back. It may feel like pressure, squeezing, fullness or pain.
• Discomfort in other areas of the upper body. Be alert to pain or discomfort in the arms, back, neck, jaw or stomach.
• Shortness of breath, with or without chest discomfort.
• Other signs may include breaking out in a cold sweat, nausea/vomiting or lightheadedness.

 “With the Placer 9-1-1 campaign, the objective is to educate the community about the critical need to know the signs and symptoms of a heart attack and importance of calling 9-1-1 should they experience those signs or symptoms,” said Jim Hilliard, a volunteer with the American Heart Association and a heart attack survivor. “The goal is to decrease the amount of walk-ins into Placer County emergency departments and to have as many EMS-transported patients as possible.”

 The Placer 9-1-1 campaign is sponsored by the American Heart Association, Placer County Health Department, Roseville Fire Department, Sutter Roseville Medical Center, American Medical Response, Sierra Sacramento Valley EMS Agency and other EMS providers.

 For more on the Placer 9-1-1 campaign, go to:

 http://www.sutterroseville.org/services/cardiac-911.cfm.