Morristown Medical Center First Cardiac "Shock Team" in NJ

Atlantic Health System's Morristown Medical Center is the first and only hospital in New Jersey to offer a multidisciplinary cardiac "Shock Team." When a patient comes in experiencing a severe, acute heart emergency (cardiogenic shock), Atlantic Health System's clinical team can activate a number of cardiac specialists and interventionalists to quickly diagnose and treat the patient with a single phone call.

For patients, this means near immediate access to a highly experienced team and earlier diagnosis and treatment, saving valuable heart muscle and potentially lives.

The shock team is comprised of a cardiac surgeon, an interventional cardiologist and an advanced heart failure cardiologist, and are on-call to intervene with therapies ranging from stenting (using a small mesh balloon to open a blocked artery), vascular bypass and angioplasty to quickly restore blood flow, or using short-and-long-term devices to help blood circulate through the heart's chambers.

This process comes at a critical time following a recent guideline change that may mean longer wait times for patients in need of a donor heart. In the past, hearts from New Jersey donors stayed in New Jersey. Now, those in most urgent need will be considered alongside candidates from a new, wider geographic area of 500 miles. The patient's current medical condition determines their status on the list. The cardiogenic shock team will help afford critically ill patients waiting for a donor heart a better quality of life until a heart becomes available.

Each year in the United States, nearly 600,000 patients are diagnosed with heart failure and approximately 2,500 heart transplants are performed.

Physicians can access the Atlantic Health System Cardiogenic Shock Team Hotline at 1-877-441-4450.