Saving more lives by sharing protocols with all SSM Health Care-St. Louis adult hospitals
RICHMOND HEIGHTS, MO – For two consecutive years, SSM Heart Institute at St. Mary’s Health Center has remained a leader in heart-attack care, unblocking arteries in 90 minutes or less, 100 percent of the time. SSM St. Mary’s Health Center is the first among hospitals in the St. Louis metropolitan region to achieve the two-year milestone in heart-attack care, a rare success among heart programs nationwide.
Door-to-Balloon in 90 minutes or less
“Every minute is critical to reducing the long-term effects of a heart attack and in saving the patient’s life,” said Dr. Manoj Eapen, an interventional cardiologist with SSM Heart Institute at St. Mary’s Health Center and director of SSM St. Mary’s Health Center’s cardiac cath lab.
90 minutes is the time to beat. The clock starts the minute a patient enters the emergency room – with the deadliest type of heart attack – an ST-elevated myocardial infarction (MI). The clock stops the minute medical professionals successfully inflate a balloon inside the blocked artery. This measure of time is known as door-to-balloon (D2B).
The nationwide, 90-minute golden standard of care for door-to-balloon is set by the American College of Cardiology and the American Heart Association.
National door-to-balloon success—no accident
The D2B success of SSM Heart Institute at St. Mary’s Health Center is no accident. It is the result of years of work, dedication and collaboration between physicians, SSM St. Mary’s staff and EMS personnel from numerous municipalities.
Dr. Kiran Kancherla, director of cardiology at SSM Heart Institute at St. Mary’s Health Center, said, “Our ER and cardiac catheterization lab have worked very hard, constantly looking at the door-to-balloon time and continuously striving to improve every part of the process to quickly treat our heart-attack patients. I can’t tell you how passionate the cardiac cath lab and emergency deaprtment nurses at SSM St. Mary’s have been in putting our patients first and pushing themselves hard to reach the door-to-balloon goals.”
This effort has resulted in door-to-balloon times as low as 26 minutes at SSM St. Mary’s Health Center.
“It took a partnership across departments at SSM St. Mary’s and with EMS to bring about these results,” said Mary McBride, SSM St. Mary’s Health Center director of cardiology. “Cardiologists, nurses and emergency room staff worked tirelessly to develop a protocol that enables our team to consistently unblock a clogged artery in less than 90 minutes.”
Success spreads throughout SSM Health Care-St. Louis
McBride and the SSM Heart Institute at St. Mary’s Health Center team shared their knowledge with sister hospital SSM St. Clare Health Center in Fenton, Mo., to see if the success could be duplicated. The results have been even more impressive.
SSM Heart Institute at St. Clare Health Center worked with their local EMS teams to be able to put the Cardiac Cath Lab team into action while the patient is still in transit. This saves time by bypassing the emergency room. The result is the lowest D2B time within SSM Health Care- St. Louis – inflating a blocked artery in 12 minutes!
The shared knowledge and protocols are now being implemented at other adult SSM Health Care-St. Louis hospitals – SSM DePaul Health Center in Bridgeton, Mo. and SSM St. Joseph Health Center in St. Charles, Mo. The protocols will be implemented at SSM St. Joseph Hospital West in Lake Saint Louis, Mo., in April 2011.
“The amazing part of this story is that the success of one SSM Heart Institute team is changing heart-attack care across the St. Louis region,” said Dr. John Kilgore, medical director of SSM Heart Institute. “By sharing knowledge, SSM Heart Institute is delivering the best heart-attack care in the region. This means we are saving more lives and reducing the long-term effects of a heart attack for our patients. Still, our teams are striving to do better. “
About SSM Heart Institute
SSM Heart Institute is the region’s most experienced provider of comprehensive heart care. A team of more than 100 skilled cardiologists, electrophysiologists and cardiothoracic surgeons provides the most advanced treatments, leading-edge techniques and unparalleled experience for the best clinical outcomes. Combined with expert nursing and technical staff, this team offers a full range of services to prevent, diagnose and treat heart disease. SSM Heart Institute services are available at five locations across the St. Louis area: DePaul Health Center, St. Clare Health Center, St. Joseph Health Center, St. Joseph Hospital West and St. Mary’s Health Center.
About SSM St. Mary’s Health Center
SSM St. Mary's Health Center is a two-time winner of the prestigious Premier Award for Quality. Centrally located in metro St. Louis, SSM St. Mary's Health Center is a contemporary, 525-bed hospital with distinctive capabilities in high-risk obstetrical services, fetal surgery, state-of-the-art heart surgery, a chest pain center, advanced stroke care, and the latest imaging and outpatient services. Also a teaching hospital, SSM St. Mary’s Health Center is the headquarters for St. Louis University School of Medicine's Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology and offers an accredited internal medicine program. At SSM St. Mary’s Health Center more than 2,100 employees and 800 physicians are devoted to achieving the best care and best results for our patients.
For media inquires, contact:
Stacey L. Rynders
Communications Specialist
SSM St. Mary's Health Center
314-768-8801 (office)
314-306-7866 (cell)
314-908-0688 (pager)
Stacey_L_Rynders@ssmhc.com