Saving Lives with Rapid Heart Attack Treatment at Halifax Health
Interventional Neuroradiology at Halifax Health Saves Patient with Rare Illness
When it comes to heart attacks,
every second counts. For Ernie
Kish, it was a paramedic’s
decision to bring him straight to Halifax
Health Medical Center that saved precious
time. And probably Kish’s life.
“Another 10 minutes and I’m not sure we would have been able to save him,” said Vance Wilson, MD. Dr. Wilson is Chief of Cardiology at Halifax Health and a senior partner in the Daytona Heart Group.
Treating Serious Heart Attacks
When Kish called for an ambulance last April, the paramedic could see the 61-yearold Glenwood resident was in trouble. An EKG — a test that measures the heart’s electrical activity — showed that Kish was having what is known as a STEMI heart attack. This is the most serious kind of heart attack. It happens when the coronary artery is almost completely blocked. Without quick treatment, a STEMI heart attack can be deadly.Angioplasty is the fastest and most effective way to treat a STEMI heart attack. In angioplasty, doctors make a small puncture, usually in the groin area, and insert a catheter into an artery. The catheter is threaded up into the heart where the blockage is. Then, a tiny balloon on the tip of the catheter is inflated. The balloon props open the artery and helps restore blood flow to the heart.
Hospital Choice Matters
Not all hospitals are able to perform angioplasty, however. That’s why Kish’s paramedic made the call to bring him to Halifax Health, rather than a nearby community hospital. Halifax Health offers around-the-clock heart attack care, and when Kish arrived, a dedicated team of heart care specialists was waiting for him. He was rushed to a cardiac catheterization lab, where angioplasty is performed, and within 30 minutes Dr. Wilson had performed an angioplasty to open his blocked artery.“The worst thing that can happen to someone having a heart attack is to be taken to a hospital that doesn’t offer angioplasty,” Dr. Wilson explained. “If you have to wait to get diagnosed, then wait while an ambulance takes you to another hospital, that might take a few hours. And you don’t always have a few hours.”
Cardiac Specialists On Call 24-7
With four cardiac catheterization rooms and cardiac specialists on call 24 hours a day, Halifax Health is able to treat STEMI heart attacks like Kish’s rapidly and effectively. In fact, the hospital’s goal is 90 minutes from the time a person arrives at the hospital to the time the artery is opened.A leader in cardiac care, Halifax Health is the first and only hospital in Central Florida to be awarded a Joint Commission Gold Seal of Approval for heart attack care. The hospital also recently received full accreditation from the Society of Chest Pain Centers.
Kish has his own rating for the hospital: “A++.”
