29 August 2010

IMPROVED TREATMENT FOR HEART ATTACK PATIENTS

The NSW Government is expanding the use of Innovative technology that allows ambulance paramedics to send a patient’s heart scan (ECG) to a cardiologist’s mobile phone or a hospital computer.

The new technology supports early interaction between paramedics and cardiologists so a patient suffering a severe heart attack can be taken directly to a specialist hospital for an emergency angioplasty procedure – a potentially lifesaving measure.

NSW Deputy Premier and Minister for Health, Carmel Tebbutt today visited Royal Prince Alfred Hospital for a demonstration of the emergency technology, which is being rolled out in NSW by NSW Health and the Ambulance Service of NSW.

“This is another great example of how the health system in NSW is using technology to improve the outcomes for patients,” Ms Tebbutt said.

“Using this innovative system, the results from cardiac monitors in an ambulance are sent via mobile technology directly to hospital emergency departments and cardiologists.

“This allows doctors to immediately evaluate suspected heart attack patients and, if a heart attack is confirmed, the patient can be taken directly to a specialist hospital for an emergency angioplasty procedure.”

The technology is already operating at six Sydney hospitals: Royal Prince Alfred, Concord, Liverpool, Nepean, St Vincent’s and Prince of Wales Hospital.

The program will be expanded to ten major cardiac hospitals across NSW by the end of 2010. Work pioneered at Westmead and Royal North Shore Hospitals showed that the rapid diagnosis and treatment of heart attack victims saved lives and reduced the size of the heart attack.

This pioneering work has been published in international journals and is being used as a model in other systems.

Professor Phil Harris, Clinical Director, Sydney South West Area Health Service said the expansion of this innovative technology is exciting.

“We know that getting the right treatment for a serious heart attack as soon as possible within the first few hours can be lifesaving,” Professor Harris said.

“During a severe heart attack the coronary artery is usually completely blocked off, and as a result a significant amount of heart muscle being supplied by the affected artery starts to die”.

Since the program began earlier this year, 70 hospital transmissions have been made with initial results indicating a quicker access to this treatment which improves patient outcomes.

Daniel Ferguson, District Manager, Ambulance NSW said: “The technology allows paramedics to discuss the transmission results with emergency physicians or cardiologists and quickly assess the patient’s requirement for transport to a cardiac treatment facility.

Paramedics are being progressively trained and equipped to implement the program across the metropolitan areas.

Earlier this week, Ms Tebbutt outlined how investments of over $170 million in medical technology are extending the reach of high-quality healthcare.

The Government is investing $62 million in digital medical imaging technology and $115 million over five years to implement an electronic medical record system in NSW.

Today’s announcement is a further example of the NSW Government commitment to smarter ways of delivering healthcare services.

“The decline in death rates for heart disease seen in the last ten years can be credited not only to reducing risk factors, such as falling smoking rates, but also to examples of better medical care, such the emergency technology demonstrated today,” Ms Tebbutt said.

For a range of health information, go online to www.health.nsw.gov.au