New Equipment Will Help Local EMS Personnel and Medical Staff Save Lives

With new technology funded by the Samaritan Hospital Foundation, local Emergency Medical Services (EMS) can send diagnostic quality 12-lead ECGs to medical personnel at Samaritan Hospital’s Emergency Department so physicians can quickly identify STEMI (ST-segment elevation) patients, making timely arrangements for transfer, if that is most appropriate.

“These 12-lead ECGs identify ST-segment elevation, which shows ongoing damage happening to the heart at the moment it occurs,” said Vicki Rosser, EMS Coordinator for Samaritan Regional Health System.  “These are the patients we can impact with the LIFENET STEMI Management Solution.”

While first responders are focusing on the patient, physicians at Samaritan Hospital are able to determine a treatment plan, one that may send the patient directly to the hospital best equipped to treat their condition. This may include MedCentral, Grant Medical Center, or other hospitals in Columbus or Akron that are capable of the appropriate interventions, such as stent placement or heart surgery. 

Since Grant Medical Center also uses the web-based LIFENET STEMI Management Solution, emergency department physicians can send the 12-lead ECGs to cardiologists for a consultation.

Everyone will be ready to manage the patient’s care, whether it’s the Emergency Department team preparing for stabilization, the helicopter transport team preparing for transport, or the receiving hospital and Cath Lab team preparing for treatment.  This will save lives.  Ashland and Loudonville EMS are ready to go, and the goal is for all EMS county-wide to have this capability by the end of the year.

Samaritan Hospital Foundation has pledged over $13,000 to purchase this system for a five year period. An additional $12,000, also donated by the Samaritan Hospital Foundation, has been earmarked to assist with the connection costs of the Lifenet STEMI system for each ambulance in Ashland County.