Grant to Fund Enhanced Heart Attack Emergency Response System in Dallas County
DALLAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- The survival clock starts ticking the moment the first heart attack symptoms begin. Every second counts in a race against time to stop the heart attack and restore blood flow to the heart—ideally within the first hour. Every day in Dallas County, approximately 30 people suffer a heart attack and depend on the seamless delivery of emergency medical services to increase their chances of survival and quality of life. Cardiovascular disease is the number one killer of all Americans, and current survival rates in Dallas County are lower than the national average. A $3.5 million grant from the W.W. Caruth, Jr. Foundation of Communities Foundation of Texas (CFT) to the South Central Affiliate of the American Heart Association (AHA) aims to change those statistics. In partnership with the medical community, the collaboration has the power to transform patient care for future heart attack victims in Dallas and to position the county as a national leader in heart attack treatment and survival.
The two-year grant-funded initiative, which will be managed by AHA staff, will focus on improving heart attack care in North Texas. By working closely with all 17 hospitals and 23 EMS providers in the county, the initiative will coordinate and streamline protocols reducing the amount of time it takes for heart attack patients to receive lifesaving treatment. Partners will work to ensure equipment compatibility, consistent training and uniform protocols for both transporting and treating heart attack patients across the region. The grant also will allow for the first comprehensive and in-depth analysis of total heart attack patient care and system level performance in Dallas County, which will be known as the SOAR metric—Symptom Onset to Arterial Reperfusion.
“The goal of the Caruth-funded project is to ensure that anyone in the county who suffers a heart attack receives optimal treatment as quickly as medically possible upon experiencing the first symptom and dialing 9-1-1,” said John Warner, M.D., cardiologist and president of the AHA’s Dallas Division and member of the South Central Affiliate Board. “Treating the heart attack within the first hour of symptom onset requires a coordinated effort between all hospitals, ambulances and emergency departments, and this project offers us the opportunity to optimize these relationships in Dallas County.”
Specific initiatives of the program include convening EMS and hospital emergency providers to regionally standardize emergency heart attack treatment and transport protocols, report and share patient care and quality improvement data, increase professional education standards and eliminate equipment gaps so all EMS providers can identify suspected heart attack patients in the field and transmit to the hospital for expedited transport and treatment. For more information on the project, please visit www.heart.org/caruth.
CONTACT:
AHA
Claire Kinzy, 214-712-1330
[email protected]
or
CFT
Laurey Peat, 214-871-8787
[email protected]
KEYWORDS: United States North America Texas
INDUSTRY KEYWORDS: Health Cardiology Hospitals Philanthropy Foundation General Health
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