In an effort to serve more cardiovascular patients, Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Southwest Fort Worth began last month treating ST-Elevation Myocardial Infarction, a potentially lethal type of heart attack.
The program meets The Joint Commission criteria and is an official STEMI-Receiving Center that provides treatment 24 hours, seven days a week. Part of the criteria is measuring the door-to-balloon time, which is the time between the patient’s arrival after the attack until they receive a Percutaneous Coronary Intervention, a procedure that uses a catheter to place a stent and open up blood vessels in the heart. The American College of Cardiology and American Heart Association recommend the time be 90 minutes or less.
“We’re addressing the needs of STEMI patients in a timelier fashion, especially when you consider the required door-to-balloon time,” said Regina Harrison, Texas Health Southwest’s Chest Pain/Heart Failure & Stroke program coordinator via release.
Texas Health Southwest’s Interventional Cardiology medical director Dr. Justin Martin wants the hospital to stay focused on constant improvement. “Texas Health Southwest is focused on further shortening the 90-minute D2B time by working closely with first responders in the field,” he said via release. “That means a commitment to dual communication between paramedics and the hospital to achieve accurate heart attack diagnosis in the field.”
“Adding Texas Health Southwest to the list of facilities with an operational STEMI program is yet another step in the right direction for Texas Health Resources,” said Kirk King, Texas Health’s executive vice president and Southwest Zone operations leader via release. “Whether patients live on the outskirts of town or near the heart of downtown Fort Worth, properly diagnosing and treating a heart attack is critical.”
