New EKG Machine Will Benefit Heart Attack Patients

March 28, 2008

A new cell phone-based technology used by Klamath County Fire District No. 1 helps possible heart attack patients get treatment more quickly by sending information to emergency staff before the patient reaches the hospital.

The LifePak 12, 12-Lead Electrocardiogram (EKG) helps identify a heart attack and its location in the heart.  Each ambulance in the district has an electrocardiogram.  The cost of each unit is between $20,000 and $23,000.

Area medical personnel have been trained in operating the machine.  Paramedics and hospital staff have been trained in reading the results and diagnosing a heart attack.

“There are a lot of clues in the little squiggly lines,” said Dan Selby, Fire District No. 1 paramedic.

Sending Information

Using cell phone technology in ambulances, paramedics and emergency medical technicians send information from a patient’s EKG reading to Sky Lakes Medical Center staff, who can then ready medical teams and equipment to immediately perform an angioplasty.

Sky Lakes Medical Center does not have a 24-hour catheter lab.  The EKG device cuts down on the amount of time a patient has to wait, especially during nights and on weekends, when doctors needed for a specific procedure are on-call, but not at the hospital.

This is especially crucial to county emergency service agencies farther away from the hospital.

“I think it’s going to work out wonderfully for us,” said Jane McLaughlin, Chiloquin Ambulance emergency medical services chief.  “It means better survival for the patient.”

The average response time in the Chiloquin area is about 30 minutes, but can be as long as an hour depending on where the patient is, she said.

On ‘Cath Alert’

When Sky Lakes Medical Center emergency room staff gets word via an electrocardiogram printout that a heart attack patient is on the way, it springs into action.

That means staff goes on “cath alert,” and a cardiologist, catheter lab team and radiology staff are notified.

“Everybody is on standby,” said Paul Mee, Sky Lakes lead cardiovascular lab technician.

Staff members are at the hospital during weekday working hours, but the team is on–call nights and weekends.

“We’re all in usually within 20-minutes and ready to go,” Mee said.  “The neat thing is that the people that have used this, have seen it work.”

Without information supplied from the field by emergency medical technicians and paramedics, it could delay treatment of the patient at the hospital by 30 minutes, said Tom Hottman, hospital spokesman.

The American Heart Association recommends medical attention within 90 minutes of the onset of symptoms.

“Don’t ignore your symptoms,” Mee says.

Many people postpone call for help, thinking they aren’t having a heart attack, he said.  Once at the hospital, heart attack patients receive an angioplasty, where a tube is inserted into the artery and a balloon blown to widen the artery where needed.

Using New Technology

Rural fire districts are just beginning to make use of the technology, said Michael Lund, a Keno firefighter, paramedic and medical officer.

“We haven’t gotten a lot of experience with it yet here at the fire department,” Lund said.

He is teaching a basic emergency medical technician course at Klamath Community College and incorporates training on the electrocardiogram device into his classes.

“Part of that is teaching them about putting monitors on,” he said.  The monitors are placed on the chest, arms and legs of the patient.

It’s easy to use, said Fire District No. 1 training chief Monte Keady.  The LifePak 12 prints out a reading of the heart activity.

“Knowing what (the reading) is supposed to look like, and knowing what a bad one looks like, is key,” he said.
 

By Megan Doyle
Article from Herald and News