Hospitals Slow to Respond to Heart Attacks
A study from the New England Journal of Medicine reported that hospitals delayed in performing angioplasties.
"Researchers from Yale School of Medicine identified several ways to speed up what they call the “door-to-balloon” time—the period between the patient’s arrival at the hospital and the moment blood flow is restored to the heart by opening a blocked artery with a catheter equipped with an inflatable balloon at the end," according to a summary of the article published in Khaleej Times Online.
The summary of the article says that "[t]he study, which included 365 US hospitals, showed that the delay in performing angioplasty varied from between 55 and 120 minutes after arriving at the emergency room. Federal recommendations are for less than 90 minutes. The risk of death rises 42 percent if the procedure is delayed at least 30 minutes, according to the researchers. "
You can find the original article, as well as several other articles about treatment of heart attacks, at www.nejm.com.