News

Southlake and County Of Simcoe Turn Research Into Reality
for Heart Attack Patients

Newmarket, Ontario October 31, 2007 - In response to recent studies demonstrating the benefit of emergency angioplasty for heart attack patients, Southlake Regional Health Centre (Southlake) has teamed up with the County of Simcoe Paramedic Services, Royal Victoria Hospital, and Stevenson Memorial Hospital to launch a new program that ensures individuals suspected of having a heart attack receive the best possible care. The project involves transporting eligible Simcoe County residents with suspected heart attacks, as determined by the paramedics, directly to Southlake in Newmarket where they can immediately undergo an emergency lifesaving angioplasty procedure. 

During a six month pilot program, nine patients were triaged and assessed by Simcoe County Paramedics and transferred directly to Southlake where they received immediate care.  Once stabilized following their procedure, patients were transferred to their local hospital where they were able to rest and rehabilitate with family and friends.

“Recent studies have shown that angioplasty, a procedure that re-opens blocked arteries, is the best emergency treatment for the survival of heart attack patients when performed in a timely manner, particularly for patients who have had pain for more than three hours,” says Dr. Warren Cantor, Interventional Cardiologist at Southlake. “This program allows us to provide the best practice standard of care that is crucial in limiting overall damage to the heart muscle. As a regional centre and leaders in cardiac care, we are pleased to partner with our surrounding hospitals and paramedic services to ensure that all patients are able to receive this lifesaving treatment.”

A heart attack occurs when blood flow to the heart is blocked by a clot in the heart’s artery. As a result, the heart muscle is deprived of oxygen and begins to die.  Immediate restoration of blood flow to the heart muscle is crucial as irreversible damage to the heart can occur within minutes. Emergency treatment, such as angioplasty, can significantly decrease the extent of damage to the heart if performed in a timely manner.

Before this project began, patients suffering from heart attacks were taken to the emergency department of the nearest local hospital, where they were treated with clot-busting drugs to dissolve clots and reduce the amount of heart muscle damage. However, research findings have shown these drugs are not always successful in restoring blood flow, especially when the artery has been occluded for more than three hours.  Patients who receive immediate angioplasty experience higher survival rates and lower rates of stroke and repeat heart attack. The angioplasty must be performed very quickly to achieve the best clinical outcomes.

“County of Simcoe Paramedic Services took a leadership role in pushing this program forward,” stated Andrew Robert, Director and Chief of Paramedic Services for the County of Simcoe. “We are extremely pleased with the success of this partnership and the County believes this is a great example of how paramedics can make a significant difference in emergency medical care. This is a partnership of pre-hospital health care and in-hospital health care which has already proven to be highly valuable and meaningful to the patient but also in achieving efficiencies in the overall delivery of health care. With Paramedics capitalizing on their training and technical abilities to bring a higher level of care, this is a partnership that enables better care now as well as hope for future partnerships.”

To be eligible to participate in the program, Paramedics must determine that the patient has experiencing symptoms consistent with a heart attack for over 3 hours and that transport time to Southlake is within 45 minutes. Paramedics will continue to treat and monitor the patient en route to Southlake, and should their condition change at any time and require more immediate attention, Paramedics will proceed to the closest, most appropriate medical facility.