"The Goal of the Washington American College of
Cardiology is to improve Cardiovascular health for residents of Washington State through education, care, and advocacy."
Cardiac & Stroke
Legislation UPDATE
Did
you know that less than half of all people who have a heart attack in
Washington are treated with primary PCI? And, fewer than three percent
of people suffering the most common kind of stroke get the best
treatment for that type of stroke. Why?
·
Most people don’t call 9-1-1 when they
are having a heart attack or stroke.
·
Resources to diagnose and treat heart
attacks and strokes vary greatly, especially in rural areas.
·
Often people having a heart attack or
stroke are transported to the nearest hospital only to be transferred to
another hospital with specialists.
·
In many areas, ambulances are not
automatically directed to hospitals that can treat heart attack and
stroke.
·
In rural areas, there are also fewer
paramedics than in urban areas. Paramedics are qualified to do
electrocardiograms (ECG) in the field, which help diagnose heart attack
so that hospital teams can be ready to treat.
In 2006 the Washington
state Emergency Medical Service and Trauma (EMS/T) Steering Committee
called for a report that outlined these disparities in emergency cardiac
and stroke care. Those findings lead to the formation of an ongoing
Emergency Cardiac and Stroke Technical Advisory Committee (ECS TAC) to
make recommendations to develop and improve the system of care for
emergency cardiac and stroke patients. The American Heart Association
supports this work and is working with partners to pass a bill in 2010
to bring attention to the need for coordinated systems and to reduce
disparities in care statewide. Within the bill…
·
Hospitals can voluntarily identify to
Department of Health (DOH) their heart disease and stroke capabilities.
·
DOH will share this information with
EMS and create triage and transport protocols around it.
·
DOH will collect data from hospitals
and report back to the legislature in two years how the system is
working.
·
Data shared with DOH and regional EMS/T
quality improvement forums will be exempt from disclosure.
·
All work will be done within WA’s grant
from the CDC.
The report and its recommendations can be found at:
http://www.doh.wa.gov/cfh/heart_stroke/For_Healthcare/ECSreport.htm.
The American Heart Association appreciates your support and input on
this work. For more information, contact Lianna Collinge at
aminc1@comcast.net .
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