The Lifenet device, a combination of web, broadband and medical technology, will reduce the time it takes for a heart attack patient to receive the life-saving angioplasty procedure that gets their blood flowing again. The upgrade in technology could help save the lives of patients experiencing Stemi (ST-elevation myocardial infarction).
Reportedly, the partnership makes Dallas the second-largest city in the US whose primary 911 agency is outfitted with the Lifenet system. Medical City also will be the first and only hospital in Dallas County capable of receiving patients connected to the Lifenet system.
All paramedics within DFR’s Emergency Medical Services system are trained to recognize the particular electrocardiogram (EKG) strips and identify markers within those strips that warrant the use of the Stemi software. In conjunction, all 45 DFR rescue units as well as two Advanced Life Support (ALS) vehicles will carry the monitors that will support the transmission of this life saving data.
The Lifenet system allows paramedics to use the latest broadband technology to transmit 12-lead EKGs from the field to a web-based system at the hospital. The system then distributes the information via the internet to care teams at the hospital’s ER, catheterization lab and the cardiologist’s handheld device.
Medical City Hospital said that with the Lifenet system, Medical City will be able to make treatment decisions while the patient is still in transport ensuring that Medical City care teams will continue meeting and eventually surpass the guidelines for treatment in 90 minutes or less, as recommended by the American Heart Association and the American College of Cardiology.
Erol Akdamar, president and chief executive officer of Medical City, said: “Our investment associated with providing this technology pales in comparison to the advantage that Dallas Fire-Rescue emergency personnel and Medical City physicians now have when diagnosing and treating heart attack patients. We saw a need that we believed we could fill and we are honored to be able to support Dallas Fire-Rescue and serve our community in this way.”
Bobby Ross, deputy chief of the EMS Response Bureau at DFR, said: “The technology in itself is remarkable. But even more remarkable is that it puts us at the cutting edge of pre-hospital cardiac care.”
