Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Telehealth to Speed STEMI Reperfusion

STEMI (ST-elevation myocardial infarction) is the most severe type of heart attack and carries a 30-day mortality of nearly 8%. Reperfusion therapy is the mainstay of treatment for STEMI, either by percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) or fibrinolytics. Delays in reperfusion are associated with negative health outcomes. Specifically, each 30-minute delay in reperfusion corresponds to a 7.5% decrease in 1-year survival. The current body of literature clearly shows that rural EMS agencies often have longer transport times, which makes the 90-minute first medical contact (FMC) to PCI time goal difficult to achieve. Approximately 16% of Americans live more than an hour from a PCI-capable facility, reinforcing the need for timely therapies in rural prehospital settings to decrease heart muscle damage (disability) and mortality. An analysis of a large national EMS database, which showed that FMC to PCI times were longer for patients treated by rural EMS agencies even after these times were adjusted for distance to destination hospital.8In addition, preliminary data for Cherokee Tribal EMS, serving the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians on the Qualla Boundary and its surrounding communities, show that none of their patients who called 9-1-1 for a STEMI received reperfusion within the AHA time goal. The American College of Cardiology and AHA support prehospital fibrinolytics when timely PCI cannot be performed. STEMI telehealth programs have yet to be implemented and tested in the United States.