Community coronary units: strategies to promote pre-hospital thrombolysis.
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Date
2002-09-09
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Abstract
Early diagnosis and the early delivery of pre hospital thrombolysis in cases of acute myocardial infarction AMI have been shown to decrease mortality Despite strong evidence of its benefits pre hospital thrombolysis rates are still worryingly low The challenge is to empower community practitioners to deliver thrombolysis In the Grampian region there is a network of community hospitals which have been equipped with both videoconferencing and remote telemetry equipment This allows realtime consultation with the local accident and emergency department and coronary care unit Early trials of the system show that clinical information can be viewed in realtime with transfer of a 12 lead electrocardiogram at 60 s intervals This will give general practitioners unprecedented access to specialist advice Our aim is to use a combination of teaching and decision support technology to ensure that all patients with AMI have the opportunity to access timely and appropriate prehospital thrombolysis