print

News Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 

MEDIA CONTACT:

Sierra-Sacramento Valley Emergency Medical Services Agency
Vickie Pinette, Regional Executive Director
916-625-1702 (phone)
Vickie.Pinette@ssvems.com

Lifesaving Heart Attack Response System Developed

KAISER PERMANENTE ROSEVILLE, SUTTER ROSEVILLE and ENLOE MEDICAL CENTER RECEIVE STEMI CENTER DESIGNATION FOR CARDIAC EMERGENCIES

March 22, 2010, Rocklin, Calif. -- Kaiser Permanente Roseville Medical Center, Sutter Roseville Medical Center, and Enloe Medical Center have received Sierra-Sacramento Valley EMS Agency (S-SV EMS) STEMI Receiving Center designation. A designated STEMI Receiving Center has been deemed particularly qualified to treat STEMI (ST Elevation Myocardial Infarction) heart attacks, a particular kind of attack, considered to be the most severe and caused by a clot in one or more of the coronary arteries.

S-SV EMS serves as the regional EMS agency for the counties of Placer, Yolo, Yuba, Sutter, Nevada, Colusa, and Butte.  S-SV EMS paramedics deliver about 200 STEMI patients annually to Kaiser Permanente Roseville, Sutter Roseville, and Enloe. With the cooperation and input of area hospitals, S-SV EMS has implemented new protocols for ambulance units dispatched to a potential STEMI patient.  Paramedics will rapidly identify a patient with a STEMI heart attack by electrocardiogram (ECG) on scene. To increase survival rates, these patients will be taken to a designated STEMI receiving center if that center is less than 30 minutes away. This program will begin at noon on Tuesday, March 23, 2010.

"For patients suffering a STEMI heart attack, a lifesaving trip to a 24-hour STEMI center for urgent intervention could mean the difference between life and death," said Troy Falck, MD, Medical Director, S-SV EMS. "This designation will give South Placer and Chico area communities access to a designated center that can respond quickly with expert personnel and the latest technology after a heart attack." Patients within the S-SV EMS region who are adjacent to Sacramento County will be transported to STEMI Receiving Centers in Sacramento.

“In order for the system to work well and to ensure quick intervention, patients who are experiencing chest pain and who think they are having a heart attack must call 911 ASAP.  This is absolutely critical”, says Falck.

The key component of an active STEMI Center is primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), otherwise known as angioplasty. The goal of the procedure is to quickly restore blood flow to the heart muscle within 90 minutes of the patient's arrival at a designated receiving hospital. Working closely with S-SV EMS, the cardiac centers at Kaiser Permanente Roseville Medical Center, Sutter Roseville Medical Center, and Enloe Medical Center are staffed by trained primary PCI experts and are fully operational, 24-hours-a-day, for cardiac emergencies and urgent intervention.

“This new cardiac initiative is a multidisciplinary effort that brings together the expertise of our area paramedics, the hospital Emergency Departments, the Cardiology Departments, the hospital-based Internists, and hospital administration”, said Vickie Pinette, Regional Executive Director, S-SV EMS.

###

SIERRA-SACRAMENTO VALLEY  EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES AGENCY                 
5995 PACIFIC STREET
ROCKLIN, CA 95677 
PHONE: (916) 625-1702
FAX: (916) 625-1730